


Attention Seeking

by Froggiestarrock



Category: Milo Murphy's Law
Genre: Bullying, Child Neglect, Closeted Character, Coming Out, Enemies to Lovers, Homophobia, Implied/Referenced Cheating, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Low self-esstem, M/M, Panic Attacks, Secret Relationship, Self-Harm, Slurs
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-13
Updated: 2018-04-29
Packaged: 2018-09-08 10:28:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 17
Words: 59,531
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8841082
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Froggiestarrock/pseuds/Froggiestarrock
Summary: One day at school, Bradley didn't seem himself. He was more distracted and he wasn't doing anything. This was when Milo had interrupted him once again. It was not like he does it on purpose, everyone knows that, but Milo still wanted  to apologise. Milo follows Bradley to the back of the school at break but what he sees horrifies him.





	1. The Cuts

Milo's POV  
I ran into class, actually a bit early for once but the bell will ring soon and I had a tree branch in my hair, don't ask. I see everyone crowding around a smiling Bradley, who was chatting away about something and actually seemed... happy. I smile, glad that he finally gets the attention he has tried so hard to get. I try and be silent as I go to my seat, taking out the branch in my hair in the progress but then I feel a burning sensation on my legs. I look down to see that my socks and shoes had somehow caught on fire. Huh... I scream and take the fire extinguisher out of my backpack and put out the now spreading fire. That defiantly caught everyone's attention now. Anyway, I put it out before the fire alarm went off, luckily, but now everyone was walking over to me and asked how I even managed to set myself on fire. 

I just chuckle and shrug, knowing that they probably already know the answer of the Murphy law. Melissa and Zack go to the front of the crowd and to the side of me and they started to talk but I wasn't listening. I noticed that everyone had come to me... everyone except Bradley... He had stayed in his seat and looked quite.. Depressed. I frown as I slip away and I walk over to him, not gaining any attention along the way. I sit down next to him and, even though his head was down and he was cupping his face with his hands, he notices me and he turns from sad and nearly in tears to mad and still nearly in tears. And then he lifts his head a bit and says.

"What do You want...? J-just leave me alone..." he grumbles and tries to hide his sadness with a scowl and harsh tone but I knew what was behind that mask and I was about to say something when I hear the bell ring for the start of class.

To avoid any trouble, I stand up and head for my seat. Everyone else was too or had already seated like Melissa and Zack. I sit down and the lesson had began with the teacher appearing and started to talk about something that I normally would care about but today, I was not listening to a word she was saying. I was too busy looking at Bradley, who was looking down and wasn't putting his hand up for answers I know that he knew and I also know that he would do anything to put his hand up and show off his intelligence but he didn't look like he was listening. The teacher even asked him a couple of times for the answer but he would just shrug, this made me more worried and by the faces in the others, they had started to realize that something was wrong with they Know-It-All Teacher's Pet. 

Then, all of a sudden, there was a sheet of paper in front of me about something that I wasn't listening to and now I had to complete this. I sigh, wondering why I'm even so worried about him, I'm sure that he's fine... I grab my pencil but before I could write anything down on the paper, my pencil broke. Not just the lead, it had actually broke in half but I wasn't surprised because this happened all the time with this stupid law of mine. I grab my pencil case and take out the millions of pencils I had in it, ready to use as I take the broken pencil and put it in my bag where I will dispose of it later. I then try to write again but then the lead snapped off. I sighed in annoyance, quietly so the teacher couldn't hear, but tried to keep on thinking positive as I take out another pencil and I started to write. 

I kind of knew what was on the work sheet. I didn't understand most of it though and I know I wasn't the brightest person there was, I wasn't very smart at all when it came to maths and such but I try not to dwell on it much. I start to work, it was word problems and every 10 words or numbers I wrote, my pencil will break. I didn't really care about my grades though, not like Bradley, who always gets A+ but if he got anything lower, he would panic. Anyway, I listen to the clicking sound of the clock and the sound of tapping pencils and the sound of lead writing. I was stuck on a question and I look over at people. Everyone just looked bored but then my eye trailed on Bradley. He looked like he was thinking, not even his pencil in his hand, just staring at the sheet but was more looking at the air. 

He spots me looking and I quickly look down at my paper, pretending to be working as I feel my cheeks flush from embarrassment. I finish my work and the classes ends, then the rest of the classes kind of went the same, with lots of work that I didn't care about and me trying to talk to Bradley. I wonder why I keep trying to talk to him when he keeps on telling me to go away like always but there was something wrong today, his anger for me, it wasn't there, he wasn't trying, like he just couldn't be bothered to care. Other people couldn't see his sadness so it looks like I should be the one to help him. I had this feeling in my heart though, there was something inside me that makes me feel weird every time I see him and I'm not sure what it is. I've never felt like this ever before. 

I don't hate him but I am struggling to think as him as only my friend, so what is he to me? The bell for the end of class and beginning of break rang and every one was jumping out they seats, glad that the lesson was over. I casually and calmly walked out of the classroom though and went to go find my only friends. As I walked through the hall to get outside to the benches where we normally meet up, people spotted me and got out out of my way like I was a dangerous, bad boy. I've gotten so used to it that I barely even notice it, Barely. I frown and head outside, seeing they sitting on the benches and talking. They were laughing and seeming like they was just so happy. I hesitate before going up to them and put on a cheerful smile. They spot me and waved and so I wave back and go up to them until I was in hearing range.

"Hey Milo," Zack says, looking a bit cautious of me like usual, despite his smile and cheery tone, everyone was scared of me, even ones that say are my friends...

"Hey guys!" I say, keeping my positive attitude but I didn't sit with them in case the bench broke like it would always do and also I was keeping a close eye for someone.

"Hey Milo, here's a question for you, why are you always trying to talk to Bradley today?" Melissa asks and my smile flattening a bit as I feel myself getting embarrassed and secretive.

"Well... You know... He seemed sad and um..." I say, not sure what to say anymore, why was I keep trying to talk to him? Seeing as he seemed to be back to normal but I guess I know better and say he was faking that.

"Ohhhhhhhh~... Does someone has a little crush...?" Melissa says, joking with me but I can feel my cheeks flushing a red and grow with heat and I get even more embarrassed.

"Y-You know what..? I think I need to go now, I've got to um... Do some errands...? bye guys..." I mutter the last part as I leave, my cheeks still warm and red. Why was I like this? Why did I even stutter? I hear them calling after me but they weren't chasing after me but I never looked back as I walked away.

I wasn't sure where I was going but I was going somewhere. I then spot somebody walking near me. Bradley. He has not spotted me but looked like he was trying to get away in secret to do something secret. He was very cautious and was gripping onto the end of his sleeves, nervously. I followed him but made sure to be out of sight as he looked around for anyone. He turns a sharp corner of a wall where nobody was and where nobody could see him. I looked a bit over the corner and Bradley had his back to me and was messing with his sleeve and was mumbling to himself. I try to listen to what he was saying but the only word I heard was 'Milo'. He was talking about me... I frown and lean in a bit closer to get a bit more conversation. I started to put two and two together to get a bit of a sentence.

"I hate... Why... mistake... Milo is so lucky..." He mutters but then sighs and his hand goes and reaches for something In his pocket and takes out something delicately that I couldn't see and used his free hand to pull up his sleeves.

What I saw horrified me. There was many vertical cuts on his upper arm but they were too straight to be accidental, the cuts were hidden away by his sleeves for who knows how long and that feeling made me feel like there was a pit in my stomach. I see what he had in his hands, it was a sharp razor, the one found in a sharpener. I gasp, knowing well enough that he was going to do something bad and Bradley turns and looks at me with wide eyes. I cover my mouth with my hands but it was too late, he had already seen me and he panicked. He roughly pulled his sleeve down and put the razor our of my view away, looking terrified. I step closer to him but he backs away. I try to say something to him but I didn't know what to say but he speaks first so I didn't have to.

"H-How much did y-you s-see...?" Bradley stuttered out, pulling his sleeves as down they could go, his tone was so worried and scared that it made feel like I was threatening him when really I wanted to help but I have no experience with any of this and I was scared that I couldn't help him.

"I-I... I think I've seen enough... Bradley... I'm so s-sorry..." I say, stepping a step closer to him and put my hands on his shoulders but this time he doesn't pull away or back away from me, he just starts to cries and I panic and hug him, "No, no, No... Please don't cry... I don't like it when people cry..."

"L-Leave me a-alone! N-nobody cares a-about m-me..." he stutters as he pulls away from me and clenched his fist and looks at me with anger but tears were streaming down and off his face.

I don't say anything and just look at him before I just hug him tightly again. His body goes limp and lifeless but then I hear a whimper and the soft sound of him crying but muffled  
ad he buried his face in my shoulder so I couldn't see him cry. He starts cries into my shoulder but he did not hug me back but I did not mind as I smiled slightly and let him cry. When he knew that I wasn't letting go any time soon, he hugged me back tightly. We hug until his tears dried and his sniffling and uneven breaths has stopped. He brings his head up from my shoulder and looks into my eyes, looking tired but his arms still wrapped around me, making us very close. He blushes slightly and he unwrapped his arms and stood away from me. I chuckle and smile gently at him before saying.

"Are you feeling better now...?" I says and I can just hear the concern in my voice that I did not ask to be there but I was glad it was as he looks at me with guilty eyes and his arms on his upper arm.

"Yeah... I am now..." he says, sighing and looked away from me and looked to the floor and I just wanted to hug and kiss h- Wait what? I don't want to kiss him! That's gay...! I'm sure I'm not gay but... Ugh! Just concentrate on something that needs my attention...

"I'm glad to hear... Now um... Are you comfortable with talking about your um...cuts..?" I say, not wanting to trigger him as I try to phrase it but he nods slightly anyway as I begin again, "So um.... How long h-have you been doing this..?"

"I don't know... A couple of months..? Sorry... I've lost track of time..." Bradley says blankly as he messes with his sleeve, pulling it up to feel the cuts on his skin.

"Oh... H-How... W-Why are you doing this...?" I ask and I looked down at his cuts as he bites his lip and he pauses.

"I... B-Because... Um... It's because..." he stutters and struggles but then sighs and looks down to his feet before mumbling, "I do it for attention..."

"You do...? Why...?" I say, confused and worried but I try not to sound like I'm judging him over this as he looks up at me.

"... You are... You're the reason why..." He mutters and my heart sank, it was my fault... He hurt himself because of something I did but I didn't know what but then he looks at me and saw my expression, which probably looked guilty, depressed, concerned, insecure, scared or a bit of everything, and he says, "Wait... Oh god, no no no... It's not like that, it's not your f-fault... It's mostly my fault..."

I looked at him, puzzled as he sighs and says in a quiet tone, "It's just... I know you do it by accident but... You just keep on interrupting me All the time... I actually started to feel like nobody wanted to listen to me... Like nobody cared about me..."

"Bradley... I... I'm so sorry..." I say and we look at each, in the eyes and I see the pain in his and he could see the worry and concern in mine, then all of a sudden, Bradley cups my cheeks and presses his lips onto mine.

I freeze, not sure what to do. Yes, I had figured out that I loved him but this was my first ever kiss, I had no idea what to do! His eyes were closed but my weren't, they were wide in shock. He let's go of me but before he could pull away, I place my hands on his waist and kiss him back, gently. I closed my eyes but I could tell he was a bit shocked but then he wraps his arms around my neck. It felt amazing and it seemed to last forever before we finally parted for air. We look at each other with wide and embarrassed smiles on our faces, bright blushes on our cheeks and slight lust in our eyes. We regain our breath again after a while and then he says.

"I... I love you Milo Murphy..." he mumbles, his blush bright red and clearly very embarrassed but had a slight smile on his face, that just made me chuckle slightly.

"And I-I love you too Bradley Nicholas..." I say, my hands still on his waist and his arms still wrapped my neck and we smile and chuckle at how we were so new to this love thing.

"Milo!" There was a voice calling for me by Melissa and Zack and I panic, we both do, we step away from each other as they appeared and they spot me and Melissa says, "Milo! There you are! Why did you just walk off like that? We know you long enough that you don't just do 'errands'..."

"Well um you see... I-I went to go talk to Bradley and um... I guess I just lost track of time... " I say, clearly nervous, seeing as I wasn't good with begin under pressure and they look at me then look at Bradley.

Bradley doesn't say a word to them and looks at me with this look that meant, 'Don't you dare tell them,' and I gulp and they were about to say something before the end of break bell sounded and I sighed in relief. I quickly grabbed Bradley's wrist and ran away, practically dragging him. We stop and start to just walk to our final class before the end of school. I was still so nervous and I felt guilty about having to lie and walk away from my closest friends. Bradley looks at me and bites his lip, going into deep thought and I wish he would tell me but he doesn't. We head into our final class, History, and that's when I realize that I have to sit next to them two but luckily I was close to Bradley. We sit down and everyone else does so too. 

We had no time to chat before lesson and if just began with Mr Clarke talking his normal, boring voice as he talks something about Romans or something. Then all of a sudden, I feel paper begin passed to me, it was Bradley. I look at it, it read 'Please don't tell anyone about us, I'm not ready for them to find out,'. I then start to write down, 'I won't, don't worry, I kind of don't want to tell anyone either,' Then I drew a heart and a smiley face and sneakily passed it to him. He read it and a smile creeps onto his face, making me smile too. Then all of a sudden, Zack, who was sitting next to me, passes me a note. I realize that the one handwriting is different from the other and I guess that one was Melissa's and one was Zack's. I could recognize Melissa's handwriting so I knew which ones was which. 

It read, 'What are you keeping from us Milo?' Then Zack wrote, 'What is going on between you and Bradley?'. I simply just wrote back, 'I'm sorry but I can't tell you, I made a promise to someone,'. I hand it to them and they wrote something together before handing it back to me to see new sentences appeared. Zack had wrote, 'I'm guessing that person you made a promise to was Bradley...', Then Melissa wrote, 'Come on, we're best friends, we tell each other everything! Since when did Bradley become more important than us?'. That made me feel terrible, like a pit was in my stomach. Then all of a sudden, before I could even write anything, it was ripped from my grasp. I looked up to see Mr Clarke, looking furious as he takes it away and puts it on his desk before continuing his boring lesson. 

The lesson finally ended after ages of him just speaking and I couldn't get out of there any faster. I grab my bag and head to the bus. As I get there and sat down and then Bradley comes aboard the bus and I motion him to sit down next to me. He does so and he looks sad, which made me concerned. I was about to ask what was wrong before Melissa and Zack came aboard and sat in front of us. They turned to look at us as the bus start to move and I frown and look at them, knowing exactly what they were going to ask. But before they could speak, Bradley places his hand on my shoulder and I turn to look at him and he nods, meaning, 'You can tell them,'. He smiles and stands up to go sit somewhere else. They look at me puzzled and sigh.

"So you guys really want to know...? Well um... You see... Me and Bradley are... D-Dating..." I say nervously, in quiet voice so nobody else could hear me and Melissa grins wide and hugs me.

"Awwwww Milo! That's great!" She yells and Zack hugs me too from the other side, a big smile on his face but people were starting to look and I panicked a bit.

"Shhhh... We promised each other that we wouldn't tell anyone... We're just not ready to tell anyone..." I say, still in a quiet tone but a smile on my face and they nod, showing that they understand and I smile wider and mumble, "Thank you guys..."

"It's no problem... Now you go and see your man," Melissa said in a quiet tone and I blush in embarrassed as I look at Bradley, who was sitting alone and they nod at them and make me go to him.

The bus was still moving but I just walked along it, thinking to myself about how this day was a pretty lucky one. Then as soon as I was near Bradley, the bus suddenly tried to stop, making me fall over onto the floor. I hit the floor, my head spinning and there was a couple of screams as the bus crashed into something. There was glass breaking and a felt a great pain in my side. I lay there for a while, darkness everywhere, before I hear voices but they were very far away and I couldn't make out who every it was, was saying. I try to wake up but it was too much pain. I tried and tried again, the voices were getting closer. They were calling for someone, who was it? Who were they? I tried to get closer and so I did, there was a light. I follow it and I see Melissa and Zack... They were shaking me and trying to wake me up.

"Milo! Please wake up..." Zack cried out, they both looked hurt, scratches and grazes all over them but luckily there wasn't any blood except from they hands, that's when I woke up and looked at them.

"G-Guys....?" I ask, my voice raspy and my eyes stung but they heard me and smiled wide with tears streaming down they faces as they hugged me tight and I smiled but then I panicked, "W-what happened...?"

"The bus crashed into someone but don't worry, nearly everyone wasn't badly hurt..." Melissa says, letting go of me and helped me stand up but I struggled and I had to put my weight on her and Zack.

"W-what do you mean Nearly...?" I say, very worried and panicked but my blood went cold and my heart sank as I finally saw what she had meant.

Bradley was there with a fairly big piece of broken glass in his side. There was a lot of blood and the bus driver had a med-kit, trying to stop it and calm him down. Tear were streaming down his face, probably from the intense pain and I could hear the sound of an ambulance coming closer... What have I done...?


	2. The Hospital

Milo's POV

Everything was just a blur, I don't remember anything. The ambulance, the police and even fire men came to open the door, which was jammed shut, the police came and arrested the guy who was drunk driving and had hit us and the ambulance checked everyone for injuries. They took me and Bradley to the hospital because I had slight concussion and bits of broken glass in me, Bradley had a big piece of glass in his side and could bleed to death any minute now. I put up a fight, despite begin weak and tired because I saw my injuries as just minor problems and when they tried to take care of me, I pushed them away and kept on saying,

"No no! Look after him! Look after him, not me! This is all my fault!" I just said that, over and over again before I finally fainted, darkness came to me once again and my body went limp and numb.

Then I woke up in an hospital bed, I recognize my surroundings as the place I normally went to when I was injured that was Murphy protected... I felt awful, weak but I mostly just felt guilty. If it wasn't for me, the bus wouldn't of crashed, Bradley would be safe and everyone would of been happy. It's all my fault... I lay there, not even able to sit up because I was just so tired despite probably sleeping for a while. I wonder how Bradley is holding up... I hope my friends and new lover stay with me after all this madness. They probably won't though... I hope Bradley is okay and not d-... Suddenly, the door opens up and a nurse appears, carrying something in her hand. I jolt up straight, making the nurse jump but I wanted answers as I start to shout gibberish at her.

"ISBRADLEYOKAYISEVERYONEOKAYWHATHAPPENEDWHEREISMYFRIENDSANDWHENAMIGOINGTOPRISON-?!" I couldn't even understand myself at this point, my mouth was ahead of my head but then the nurse shut me up.

"Woah woah! Calm down! You need to rest, you have a slight concussion and it is not going to help when you yell," She says, pressing her hand on my shoulder to push me down gently to the bed and I was too weak to fight back.

I sigh and go silent as she grabs some medication and tries to give it to me but I just turn my head to look away from it. I didn't normally fight the nurses but I didn't want to get better, I wanted to stay in this room as then nobody I knew could see me. She sighs in annoyance and places the medication on the side table before leaving the room because she had to go and look after a different patient. I was glad that she was gone but now I was lonely. What was wrong with me...? I want to be alone but not lonely, I wanted to be friends with someone but I also didn't because I thought I was too dangerous and I was sick, tired and I was in pain but I would not take my medication. I sigh and close my eyes, wanting to just fall asleep forever but I can't because my head hurt too much.

I looked over at the medication and I sigh before sitting up and looking at the label. Then I take the right amount, the taste was disgusting but I somehow managed to swallow it. I lie back down and quickly look at the clock on the wall, '5:56'. School had ended at 3, I normally would be back at home for 4:00 at a maximum... I wonder If they are worried about me, I mean, they must be pretty used to it. I can just hear them say: 'Oh, Milo is in the hospital Again? What has he done now?' 'Milo was only in a car crash, he'll be fine, he has survived the other 5 times,'. I felt bad for thinking about stuff like that but I couldn't help it and it only made my headache worse. There was a lot of silence in this room so much that my ears ring. I was so bored but there was nothing to do. 

So tired but I couldn't sleep. So scared but I did nothing to help. I didn't know if Bradley was okay and I was worried sick. I lay down and tried to sleep but I still couldn't. Hours went by of me doing nothing but feel bad for myself as the medication starts to work ever so slightly, not much though. I was begin selfish, Bradley could be already dead for all that I know and all I do is nothing! As I think to myself, I clench my fists around the blanket until my knuckles were white and my eyes started to water. I didn't want to cry but I did and I weep into my hands as tears poured down my face. I hated even thought of people hating me or somebody actually dying because of me. I wanted to just get up and out of this bed and go see him but I knew I couldn't because I would get in trouble and I'm not even sure I can walk.

I cried until no more tears where there and I wiped away my tears on the sleeve of my hospital gown and lay there bored again. I sniffle and sigh as my eyes stung and I tapped my finger to the sound of the clock ticking. Then all of a sudden, the door swings open and instead of the grumpy nurse, it was my family. Yep, my actual family, very happy to see me. They rush in and Sara hugs me as soon as she sees me but I could tell she was careful with me in case I was actually injured. I was shocked, surprised but most of all happy as I sit up and slightly hug her back with a smile on my face, a pained smile but still a true one. My mom and dad hug me after her and they tell me that they were so worried about me when they got the call that I was in a car crash.

I tell them that I was fine and it wasn't that big deal as I explained what happened. I don't tell them the part where I made out with my new boyfriend, in fact, I don't mention him at all but only because I don't think it was the right time to tell them that I was gay. It's not like they are homophobic, Sara has came out to them that she was bisexual and they accepted her but I'm still scared but I don't know why. Later, they have to leave because it was getting too late but the doctors assured them that I was going to be fine and that I will be home in one to a few days. I smile as they are so worried about me and I actually forget about my fears and worries and it gives me enough happiness to think for a bit peacefully about this and that...

Then I started to think what would happen if I saw my 'friends' ever again... Everyone was still here, Melissa, Zack, Mort... Bradley, all happy and okay. I would be in the corner as they talked and laughed in the middle of a room. I head over to them to try and see what they were so happy about and they suddenly snapped they heads to look at me. They frowned and scowled, there was looks of disgust and looks of terror. They muttered to themselves and I could feel my heart sink. There was this pit of emptiness in my stomach and they begun to mutter louder and louder until they were yelling at me. I felt so small as I fell to my knees and covered my ears as they yelled at me with hate in they tone. They spoke thus.

"You jinx! You will kill us all one day!" Bellowed Mort.

"Don't go near him, he's dangerous!" Scowled Amanda.

"Why would anyone be friends with him?" Growled Melissa.

"No... NO! No NO NONONO! PLEASE STOP! PLEASE!" I scream as they corner me, tears streaming down my face and my voice cracking as I cover my ears to try and drown out the terrible sound.

"I wish I had never met him..." Snarled Zack.

"Did you really think I would ever love you...?" taunted Bradley.

I broke at that last one and I felt my body get numb, weak and defenceless as my mind stopped caring but the tears continued to fall down my face as my eyes began to sting, my throat sour from yelling and my nose began to get drippy. I get pushed to the hard ground and my chin and jaw grind on the ground and I could feel the stinging of skin began to be ripped off and slight liquid of red falling off my chin and onto the floor with my tears. Before I could react or call for help, not like it would do much, they began to kick me in the gut and I doubled over on the floor but then they kicked my face, right in the eye and I could already feel it beginning to swell. I yelped in pain as they beat my broken body until they could hear the clicks of my bones getting cracked or broken in two. 

I scream out in the blinding pain but then one of them cover my mouth with they hand. I cried more but I didn't even notice as I screamed until my voice box broke and nothing would come out, I had beaten me until they couldn't make me any worse and I was numb because I was do uses to the pain. I was left there, broken and numb and I had probably no hope of surviving. I smile to the thought as my breath gets rare and my eyes start to fall as the edges of my vision get dark. I bled out onto the floor, along with past tears and my mind went dead. Then I hear footsteps, I get scared and tensed up but then I see a light and I look up a bit to see Melissa, Zack and Bradley, yet they were smiling kindly and they shone bright. Bradley held out his hand to help me up and I took it and with every time he touched me, it healed the broken bones and bruises. 

Melissa and Zack hook they arms around me gently, they touch also healing me, and they let me put my weight on them so my hurt feet could rest. I smile and I know that these were different from the people who hurt me, these were the real ones and the dark ones were just the way I thought they would react. Tears of happiness catch the corners of my eyes but then they hug me gently so I wouldn't get hurt and those tears fell as I laughed and hugged them back. I didn't want to ever let go as I closed my eyes and held them tight. But when I opened my eyes back open, they were gone and I was back in the hospital. It was all a dream... I already miss their glow... 

I sit up from my bed, wet tears on my pillow, knowing now that I can't hide away and go in denial, I have to face my problems because people care about me and I care about  
them and I need to show that or else I won't have anyone care about me at all. I look around the room, the night sky from the window is my only light, with the moon begin half out but billions of stars in the sky filled the walls with a light bright enough to see my surroundings. I noticed a basket with a bow on the side-table and I lean over to look in it. It was a gift basket for someone with a bow tied on it, filled with a card with the words 'Get well soon!' on the front and two whole bar of my favourite chocolate. I smile wide and I look in the card, there was a lot of rubbing out but also a small doodle of a person on a dinosaur with sunglasses. The card read:

'To Milo,

I'm glad your okay! (not dead was erased but still visible under the word okay) I heard you had to stay in here for another 2 days and you've been asleep for a day already, that must suck. I'm sorry about what happened to Bradley but don't worry, I heard he was going to be okay.

We and a few others at school miss you and we can't wait until your back. It is really different without you here. Hope you get well soon!

From Melissa and Zack, xxXxx'

I smile wide as I read in the dark light, slightly straining my watering eyes. But then I reread it and I spot something, 'you've been asleep for a day already,', I'VE BEEN ASLEEP FOR A DAY?! My eyes widen and I look at the clock, '2:41'. I didn't know if it was pm or am but I would guess am. I shouldn't be surprised because I have been unconscious sometimes for more than a week but this was only a slight concussion and a few minor injuries, I barely should of been unconscious at all... I place the card down, taking the covers off me with a swift moment as I throw my legs over the edge of the bed, ready to stand up. I placed my bare feet on the cold floor and a tingly feeling shivers through my body as I stand up. 

My body was still weak and I had to lean on the closest wall until I could take my own weight but when I did, I started to walk slowly for the door, not noticing the pain in my side until now. I clutched it tightly to slightly numb the pain and with my other hand on the wall to stable my standing as I got to the door. I use one of my hands to push it open and use my body to hold it open as I begin to limp out of the room. The hospital was bright with lights but it was kind of deserted except from the few passing people. I saw sign that showed me the way to the receptionist's desk, I needed to find out what was going on. People, nurses and doctors who passed me in the halls just gave me a look but don't say anything to me or stop me in my tracks. The square titles were cold to the touch of my bare feet.

I got goosebumps on my pale skin from the cold air that hit it, the hospital gown I was wearing was not meant for warmth, already missing the warm bed in the other room. I stroll over to the desk, which was by the door leading outside, the cold breeze coming from there as it was slightly opened, I shiver as I try to stay warm, walking over to the lady at the desk, she was a very familiar face. I saw her quite a lot as you know about how many times I get hurt or ill. She was a very nice lady, around her mid-twenties known as Miss Wright. Don't get me wrong, she can be quite strict when it came to rules and such. She was typing on a keyboard with her eyes on the blaring computer screen but heard me by the sound of my footsteps and looked up to meet my eyesight.

"Ah! Milo, What are you doing up? You are not used to be standing for another day or so!" she says, standing up from her seat with panic and distress in her body language and tone of voice.

"I'll be fine, I've only got a slight concussion... Anyway I nee-" I say, wanting to ask my question but before I could, Miss Wright went into front of me and kneel down to me so we were around the same heigh.

"It's more then just a concussion hun, by my notes, you seem to have been in a panic attack while you were asleep and you had tiny pieces of glass in you!" She says, grabbing clipboard from the desk and flipping through the pages and reading the writing on it.

"W-what...? Uh, I um... I didn't know that..." I say because I don't know what I could say to that, I lifted up my shirt and I spotted some very small stitches but I could barely see them through all the rest of the scars on my body.

Miss Wright frowns when she sees the scars but sighs and places the clipboard on her desk, before saying, "I will let it slide for now but in 10 minutes you are going back to your room mister"

"Alright Miss Wright..." I mumble as I look down, fiddling with the edge of my sleeves, wanting to ask something so badly but I didn't have the courage to do so but I guess I gave it away somehow because I could hear her say,

"Now why are you up? You need to tell me something don't you...?" She asks and I look up at her face and nod slightly and she smiles and gestures for me to speak it and I sigh as I ask her something that has been bugging me ever since I got here.

"Where... Where is Bradley Nicholas...? He's my... friend... and I need to know if he is okay..." I say in a desperate tone as I look in her eyes, begging for her to tell me, she then bites her lip and begins to think before smiling and saying to me.

"Isn't Bradley the one who also was in that car crash with you?" Her voice in a comforting tone as she goes to her computer and starts to type, I just nod, then she adds, "Well... it says he's in room 203... He's okay, don't worry hun, do you want to see him?"

"Yes please!" I say with lots of enthusiasm, a big grin on my face to know I can see him and that he's okay, Miss Wright just chuckles and stands up from her desk chair and started to walk down the hall, gesturing me to follow.

I began to follow her, bouncing in every step, the horrible feeling in the air gone and the lights seemed to be a lot brighter then before, the only thing that was wrong was a slight pain in my side where the stitches were but I ignored it with ease. We went up some uneven stairs, still barefooted, we went in silence but I didn't mind because there was nothing to talk about. I was so happy to finally see Bradley again but then thoughts began to race in my mind as we approached the door with the rusty numbers '203' on it, the thoughts were not so good ones... Will he hate me because of what I did...? Will he not want me there...? What if he doesn't love me anymore...? What if he regrets ever begin with me in the first place...? I try to shake the thoughts away but they just got worse and worse. 

We got to the door and Miss Wright was ready to open the door but then saw my scared expression and stopped. We look at each other and she gives me a small comforting smile, clearly trying to make me feel better despite not knowing at all why I was so nervous. I sigh, facing the door again, knowing full well that if I step foot in that room that there was no going back but I nod as she opens the door. I found Bradley asleep in his bed, a book in his hands, he must of fallen asleep while reading, the thought brought a smile to my face.. But then I saw all the tubes attached to him, a tube in his arm and a tube he his nose was seen, it broke my heart but I still don't know what happened to his side and I was so worried about it... I didn't want to wake him up so I started to look around his hospital room instead. 

The room Bradley is in was very different from mine, it was quite simple, no advanced machines to make sure everything stays together or double thick walls so they didn't break, it was just a normal room. I saw a picture hanged in a frame on the wall, it was some mountains and I look at it but before I could make out what it really was in detail, it fell off it's nail and smashed on the floor with pieces of glass everywhere, I suspect it was the Murphy's Law. I panicked, moving out of the way so I didn't get even more hurt by broken glass as Miss Wright goes to get something to clean it up, warning me to not go near it, I just nod but then I hear movement from the bed, I turn to see Bradley wake and sitting up, his eyes on me.


	3. The Parents

Milo's POV  
We looked at each other in dead silence, not sure what to do or say or if I should do anything at all. I wanted to leave but I also wanted to run up and hug him but I wasn't sure if I could do either. I wondered if he would yell at me or want to hug me back but the stare just lasted longer the more I stared in his eyes. I couldn't stop myself, I smiled as my eyes watered with tears of joy and I took a running start towards him and hugged him gently, just so glad that he was okay. I tried not to let my eyes shed any more tears even if they were happy tears as I hug him very gentle, so not to hurt him. I love to be able to hold and I spoke in a happy but quiet tone.

"You're okay..." I say, like a whisper, quickly realizing how dumb I must sound, of course he was okay.

I noticed very quickly that he wasn't hugging back or doing anything for that matter and I immediately let go, fear striking me as I look at him, secretly trying to find the damage on his body. He was looking at me, his glasses were on his night-stand as he reaches to get them, his eyes remaining on me. His eyes were not full of anger or disgust but not of happiness either, they were full of confusion and surprise, I can't blame him though, he had just woken up. I spotted some bandages wrapped around his shoulder and upper arm underneath his hospital gown, wait... That's where his cuts were... He puts his glasses on and frowns, more fear filling me. What was he thinking..? We went back to the awful silence as we stared at each other, a bit closer this time. I wonder how he say me through his eyes... A monster? A freak? Or somebody that he loves? Someone he cares about maybe...? Bradley then cleared his throat and said something in a raspy voice, he wouldn't have used his voice till now so that's why he sounds so weak and his throat so scratchy. I was snapped out my train of thought as I heard him speak.

"Hey Milo... Do you mind telling me what the hell is going on...?" He says with a slightly bitter tone but mostly confusion as he stares at me and I couldn't help myself to smile as to know he was still his same old Bradley and also to the fact I heard his voice again.

"Oh yeah... you probably won't remember..." I say as I nervously chuckle, swiping some of stray hairs out of my face but then I frown as I remember myself, every single detail of how he was in so much pain that he was crying, how the blood was soaking his checkered shirt, "Well, yo- We were in a car crash... Some drunk driver hit our bus as we were heading home and we both got pretty badly hurt and so, here we are!"

"How long were we out..?" He asks, running his hands through his black hair as he slightly winced as he moved,

"Well, I've been awake for like a an hour now...? But apparently we've been asleep for a whole day..." I say, scratching the back of my neck nervously.

"A whole day!" Bradley yells in a raspy voice and I chuckle.

"Yep! That's what I thought too!" I say in a too happy tone for this situation.

"Oh my god..." he mutters with a slight smile, making my heart beat faster.

"Yeah..." I say as I look at him with a warm smile but then he looks back at me and we lock eyes.

I sat down on the side of the bed and we were already so close. Time seemed to slow down but my heart just beat faster as I lean closer a bit, looking into each others eyes. He seems to understand what I was doing and starts to lean closer too. He closes his eyes so I do too as we got closer and closer. A half an inch away, he was only a half an inch away when the doors opened up and we had to separate as fast as possible to avoid begin caught as soon as we heard the door open. I stood up and looked at the nurse with an object to clean up the broken glass on the ground. Oh yeah... I forgot about that... Miss Wright looks at us suspiciously before leaning down to clean it up before saying to Bradley. 

"Good to see that you're doing good, you unfortunately can't leave for another couple of days due to the surgery of getting the glass out of you..." she says and Bradley just nods but then there was a knock on the door and she smiles, "You're parents are here to see you, they came as soon as they heard you were awake, how wonderful is that!"

Then Bradley flinched. He flinched when he heard that he parents had to come to see him. Was he scared of his own parents..? That thought terrified me. Miss Wright finished up cleaning the broken glass from picture before collecting her things and went outside, then a bunch of muffled voices talked through the door. Bradley looked scared so I held onto his hand and held it tightly, smiling at him. He looked at our hands then me then smiled slightly. But then the door opened and Bradley immediately let go of my hand and pulled away, a frown settled on his face. Then a couple, I assume were his parents came into his room. They both had black hair and the father had glasses, a lot like Bradley except had a cold stare and looked a lot like business people, they even had a stack of papers in their hands.

"Hello mom, dad.." he says in a formal tone that I've only heard him use was a while ago before I found out about his cuts, it was like he was back to “normal” again..

"Hello son," his mother said, placing the stack of papers on his side table before noticed me and made a look of disgust, it made me feel awful, then she whispered to Bradley but I could still hear her, "Why is that jinx here...?"

"...He's here because the nurses thought it would be a good idea to know what happened from somebody who was there..." Bradley says, coming up with a lie with a frantic look on his face, it was so obviously a lie but his parents seemed to buy it as they looked at me, Wow, he really doesn't want his parents to know we are dating and not even at least friends? Well, I mean, by the look at them I could see why.

“Well of course HE was there! I should sue his family for nearly killing you and whoever was on that bus, that'll sure stop them from begin near you ever again and be in cages so they can't be a harm to anyone but themselves...” His father said, adjusting his glasses up his nose and had a scowl on his lips, Bradley kept his head down but I could see that he was gripping the bed sheets tightly till his knuckles were white and was biting his lip, probably to stop himself from saying something, their words still hurt me very much and I had to bite my lip to stop myself from crying.

“And and by the way, I brought school work so while you're stuck in this mess of a place, you won't be failing your classes...” His mother said, gesturing to the stack of paper and he just nods, he doesn't do anything else like make a rude comment or rebel at all like he usually does, he just nodded, I was so scared of what his parents must of done to get him to be like this.

And with that, they left, finally, and so did the nurse and we were back alone, I preferred it this way. I sat back down on his bed and we lock eyes and I don't smile this time, neither does he. Why were his parents so horrible? Are they the reason why he was so horrified before because he thought that, that was how everyone was..? He knows what I was thinking, I could just tell by his face but then I could see his eyes watering and I panic and hug him quickly, muttering the odd ends of, 'it's okay' and 'it's not you're fault' but all he was saying was 'I'm sorry' as he hugged me back but luckily he was crying, at least that was an upside, he was staying strong. I released the kiss to place a kiss on his forehead to try and calm him down but then he cups my face and kisses me with his eyes squeezed tight. I was surprised at first but I quickly lean in with him to add my part of the kiss. This was nice, it was nice to know we were still together. I place my hands on his waist and he wraps his hands around my neck. His glasses was begin a bit of a problem and I think he knew because he then took them off and placed them on the side, not leaving the kiss. We only broke when we needed to breath, we smiled at each other with bright blushes on both of our cheeks, I could feel the sexual tension in the air. But then my eyes trailed down to the bandaged up cuts on his shoulders, he saw the look I was giving them and wrong, unwrapping his arms around me as we stopped panting. They made me feel sick to my stomach, I felt sympathy for him, I hated that he felt like he had to hurt himself. Then I had a though...

"Wouldn't you're parents be called when the doctors found out about the cuts...?" I asked, looking in his eyes but my hands were holding the bandages gently, so not to hurt him.

"... Probably but they already know, its probably the reason why they were so grumpy today, they don't really like it when I hurt myself though as they say 'it makes us seem like bad parents,' not like they aren't bad parents already," he says, clearly frustrated, putting on an annoying voice for when he was pretending to be his parents, it made me laugh but then he gives me a look and I shut up.

"Sorry..."

"It's fine..." we mutter.

I was about to say something else that has been on my mind for a while but then a nurse came into his room and said "Come on Milo, time to go back into you're room, let Bradley rest..."

I just nod and start to follow him but then I turn around to Bradley and make a heart shape with my hands and lip synced the words 'I love you' with a grin, making his cheeks flush bright red and a shy and flustered smile crept on his lips. I smile more and leave the room, sure I was going to miss him but the look on his face was cute enough to last me until our next visit, when ever that would be. I walked with the nurse but I could see a knowing smile on his lips when he took a sneakily look at me making me confused but then he said.

"I saw that by the way," I knew actually what he was talking about and I felt my cheeks start to get warm and red with embarrassment.

"Oh god..." I hide my face in my hands as I walked down the stairs with him but then I hear him chuckle.

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone, I think it's cute, what you two have, I heard you two talking a bit through the door, you don't see relationships like that," he says but I stay quiet, deep in thought, I never thought about it like that... but then I hear him add, "He was talking a lot about you when he woke up after the surgery, he was worried about you,"

"Awww... wait, what surgery?" I say after cooing over how cute that was but then that thought went through my mind as I looked at him with scared, wide eyes.

"He had to get surgery for the glass in him, it was inside his guts and now he has stitches, he's due another one in a couple of days.." The nurse said, squirming a bit, he, a nurse at a hospital, was squirmish, I didn't laugh though, there was a sinking feeling in my heart, this was all my fault...

He open my hospital room and I step inside, it was dark and cold in there, I wanted to go back but I couldn't. I needed "rest"... If I wasn't there on that bus, Bradley wouldn't be in the hospital. If I wasn't there, he wouldn't need stitches. If I just wasn't there... Everything would be better, everyone would would be happier without me there messing stuff up. I flop onto the bed, I felt slight jabs in my body from the impact that I ignored. It was probably nothing. I didn't want to be here anymore. I never did. I tried to get the terrible thoughts out of my head as I looked over at the basket Zack and Melissa gave me and read the note again, a smile spreading on my face. I couldn't wait to get out of this building again.

-Time skip-

Days went by fast, it feels like just a blur now. I'm now going back to school after a couple of days of recovery, I didn't get any surprise party or anything but I was not surprised the slightest as I took a lot of time off in the hospital. That didn't stop Melissa and Zack given me a giant hug when I stepped foot into school. Not a lot had happened while I was away, it was very uneventful and boring without me a lot of people said, that was definitely something that brought up my mood back to normal. Bradley was not allowed to leave for another couple of weeks, even months depending how his health improves. A few class mates like Mort was very worried about him and would keep on asking questions like 'when is he coming back?,' and 'is he okay?'. And when I tell Bradley this, he would get really flustered and adorable. I would visit him everyday after school, it became a thing we did, unless the nurses wouldn't let me when he was getting his medication or daily check up or something, and I would always have a new story to tell him every time. The flying car disaster, The Llama incident, The angry goose attack, The plane crash on my doorstep, the cruise ship sinking, the list goes on and on. Bradley loved to listen to them, he didn't have much to do except do all the paperwork his parents gave him, I was still bitter about that despite Bradley saying himself to 'just get over it, it's fine...'. I knew it wasn't fine though. It was just a normal visit, with me in the seat next to the bed and he in the bed with less wires attached to him. He was getting better and the bandages around his upper arms and shoulders had been taken off so his cuts were very visible. 

It took a while for him to get over his insecurity about them but when he thinks I'm not looking he would look at them and frown like he was nearly going to cry. It crushed my heart every time I noticed. The autumn season had come with a bang with rain and trees leaving nearly all their leaves or turning an orangey-red color. I learnt a couple of days ago that Autumn was Bradley's favorite time of the year because it in in the middle of hot long days and cold short days and had nearly perfect weather, not too cold, not too warm. I disagreed as it started to rain a lot more then usual, it was more cloudy then ever and was so cold that I had to go from a sweater vest to my armored sweater, I didn't disagreed out loud though to his face though. I'm more of a Summer guy, I love jumping about in the warm sun and having clear blue skies and watching flowers bloom. When I said this though, Bradley said how Summer was an excuse to wear less clothes than normal, make their kids go outside and take time off school. I could help but chuckle when I heard it, he was back to normal, finally the old Bradley was back again. It was a very windy and rainy day today, I had to wear my old raincoat that I haven't used in forever just to get to the hospital dry, the wet raincoat now hanging on the drying rack in the hospital to get dry. I was watching the rain through the window while Bradley read one of the books he borrowed from me, it was silent in his room, we didn't say anything but it was a nice silence, that's how most of our visits went, with the few kisses and us begin in deep and long conversation in between.

I watched the wind move the leaves of the trees outside quite rapidly, it made me shiver. I turned and looked at Bradley, I smiled as I thought of the time the nurse said a while ago that in a couple of days, he would be able to get out of the hospital. I couldn't wait. Luckily the Murphy Law had decided to spare him when I'm near him but I don't know how long it will last though and I'm still scared to be near him. I was thinking about something that has bothering me and I hate thinking about it. I looked at Bradley and said.

"Do your... Do your parents hit you...?" I looked down as I hit my lip but I sure had caught his attention.

"What...?" That was all he said.

"Have your parents ever hurt you?" I said and looked in his eyes, I was scared what the answer would be.

"W-Why would... I mean yes but No but I guess tha-" Bradley started to ramble and panic, trying to think of a response but I cut him off.

"Bradley... Have they...?" I asked again and he paused.

"No... They hit me once when I was 7 I think but that was because I cursed at them for begin neglectful parents, I deserved It," he said before chuckling, I felt sick to my gut, he doesn't deserve parents like that, he doesn't deserve any of this even if he was a jerk sometimes.

"Bradley..." I said in a quiet and worried tone but he doesn't say anything and just looks down at his bed and bits his lip before looking at me with a mean smirk.

"But hey! That's in the past! Stop worrying so much!" Bradley said but I just frown and put my hand on top of his before saying.

"I'm here for you, I hope you know, always will be..." I smile slightly and he looks in my eyes, slightly shocked but a small smile was spreading on his face but it seemed sad and weak.

We went silent as I looked in his eyes and he looks in mine, slowly leaning closer and closer to each other, leaning closer for a kiss. Our lips touched and I immediately melted in it and both of our eyes closed as I place my hand around his neck and I could feel his smile through the kiss. Happiness bubbled up in me like a firework, it always felt great to kiss him, that's how I know that I loved him. But then he licked the lower lip and I panicked a bit for a split second because I have never gotten this far with anybody, never the less a boy, but I opened my lip slightly anyway and our tongues intertwined together,a bright blush on my cheeks and my eyes shut tightly, it felt nicer then I thought it would. 

Bradley wrapped his arms around my waist and I think I was getting the hang of it and end up in his mouth, then he made a sound but was muffled. Then the door opened to his room and out came Melissa and Zack catching us mid-kiss, having us not hearing them get to the door, we had no time to separate. My eyes widen when I hear the door creak open and so do Bradley's as we escaped the kiss quickly, a line of saliva between us.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for begin so late on this chapter! I can't of lost motivation for a while, not to mention that every chapter is around 3,500+ words T_T
> 
> Now if you don't mind, I'm going to go drown on my tears.


	4. The Homework

Milo's POV

My already existing blush from the kiss went 10x redder as I got off Bradley and stood up and stared at them, out of the corner of my eye, I could see Bradley blush as hard as a beetroot before cupping his face with his hands and groaned in annoyance and embarrassment. Then Melissa started to laugh loudly, actually doubled over, only making me blush harder and wince over the fact how embarrassing this was, while Zack just blushed bright and tried to compute what had just happened as Melissa says between laughs.

"S-Sorry! Did we catch you at a bad time?" Melissa taunts as she elbows as I blush harder, if that was even possible.

"Do you actually want us to leave and you two can get back to... that thing you were doing...?" Zack asks nervously, scratching the back of his neck.

"No no, it's fine... What do you guys need?" I say, trying to regain myself as I chuckle nervously but I see that Bradley was silent and still hidden in his hands.

"We were supposed to be doing that Art project after school but we couldn't find you and you weren't answering you're calls but we knew you would be here, so here we are..." Zack explained and I take my phone out of my pocket to see that it was smashed, then I remembered the tiger incident on the way to the hospital.

"Oh yeah! Sorry it completely slip my mind! Do you have the stuff we need on you?" I ask, looking at them both as I place the broken phone back in my pocket.

"Yep," Zack replies, gesturing to his backpack on his back.

"Great! We can just start it here! You don't mind do you Bradley?" I say, looking down at him and he doesn't even look up from his hands.

"It's not like I own the room or anything," Bradley says but I couldn't tell if he was begin sarcastic or something so I just look at him, confused. (Autistic Milo for you there, just a head cannon tho)

He looks up at me finally, sighs, crossing his arms and adds, "That means sure, they can work here..."

"Thanks Bradley!" I grin at him and look over at the other two who were already on the floor, taking out art items from Zack's bag like paper, pencils, a sharpener, fine liners, etc

I joined them on the floor, my legs crossed. The reason why we were on the floor was because there wasn't any chairs or tables in the room except the one by the bed and we didn't want to share one chair together obviously and we didn't want two people to be left out and it was better down here anyway. Zack handed me my art book, which I must of forgotten or misplaced somewhere again, the book was used as a surface for the paper as the titles of the floor would effect the drawing. Zack was basically our planner, our storage or inventory, he knew us well enough that a boy and a girl who has the memory of a goldfish and the attention span of a millisecond, couldn't be trusted with anything they could lose. Put the book and paper on my knee and went to go get a pencil but then I hear a voice.

"So what are you guys suppose to be doing...?" Bradley asks, getting out of his bed and sat by my side and before I could reply, Zack grabbed a sheet from his backpack.

"It's on this sheet, we need to look at this anyway," he says, going to pass it to Bradley but then a bird swooped in through an open window, took the paper and flew back out before he could even grab it back.

"Welp... There goes the paper, I knew today was going too good..." I hear Zack mutter as we all stare at the window the bird flew in and out of, "Anybody know what it said on it?"

"Um... Well..." Me and Melissa muttered as we looked at each other, Zack sighed.

"I'm gonna take that as a no..." Zack says, sounding a bit annoyed and I bit my lip but guilt as I know it was most likely my fault.

"Wait... One second," Bradley says and stands up and goes to the stack of papers on his bed side-table and started to flip through them but then Melissa leans over to me and whispers in my ear.

"You two were really get at it with your tongues~" She had a gigantic smirk on her face, it made me blush bright red as I scrunched my eyebrows together.

"You're never gonna let me live this down, are you...?" I whisper and sigh as I tried to hide my growing blush with my hands.

"Nope!" Melissa whispers with a smug smirk as Bradley comes back with a piece of paper and sat back down.

"I have a copy of that sheet, at least I think this is it..." He says as he places it on the floor in the middle of the circle of us.

"Yeah! This is It, how did you get this? You weren't at school at all for the past couple of weeks..." Zack says as he grabs the paper and reads what we have to do.

"My parents give me every single piece of homework so I don't fall behind while I'm here," Bradley says without hesitation but quickly changes the subject, "So what do you have to do...?"

"Well um, we have to draw a enlarge picture of your favorite object in a realist style for the recent art project in 3D. It's got to be something you care about, use correct measurements and shading like what you've been learning, due next Thursday," Zack says as he reads it and says parts of it that were important.

"Cool! We can just draw whatever is in our bags, I think I got my fidget box (a stimming object) in mine," I said as I look at them both but Melissa seemed distracted, she was looking at something, I followed her stare to Bradley, who was sitting next to me, I wondered why but then I hear her say.

"Bradley...? What are those cuts on you're shoulder...?" Bradley went pale and his eyes went wide as he tried to hide them with his sleeves but they were too short.

The room went silent as Bradley didn't say anything, what could he say? I want to stand up for him or try to explain but what should I say..? The cuts of his shoulders were faint and were healing, which was pretty good but they were still very visible to everyone. Bradley bit his lip and looked down at his lap. Melissa and Zack frowned as they both realized what was going on but Melissa looked guilty and regretful. I looked at Bradley and gently put my hand on his shoulder but he flinched to the touch, before calming down and brushed my hand away.

"Let's just get this project over and done with..." He muttered and scowls, pulling on his sleeve again.

"Bradle-" Melissa began in a gentle tone but Bradley cut her off.

"Let's. Get. This. Done. Already," Bradley said sternly like venom on his tongue.

"...Sorry..." Melissa says under her breath, even though it was so quiet, Bradley and I could hear it and I knew that Bradley could hear the guilt in her voice because he instantly stopped scowling and a frown and fragile eyes replaced it.

He didn't say anything but just stood up and went to his bed and sat on the other side with his back facing us. I sigh and look at the others, who wasn't sure what to do and looked at me for guidance, like I'm now a wise, old man and I knew exactly what to do, when really I could barely wrap around what was going on anymore. I look back at Bradley, he haven't move an inch, before I sighed again but It sounded more defeated then I had planned. I look at them, they eyes never left me, and I say with a slight, fake smile.

"Bradley has just had a hard time, I know he doesn't mean it, he's just... Scared," My tone of voice was just enough quiet so Melissa and Zack could hear me but not let Bradley know I was talking about him, they both just smiled and nodded.

"It's fine, we understand," they whispered was they both get their bags and take an object out, I knew they meant it, this surprised me.

"Really..?" I ask in a quiet tone, confusion on my facial expression and tone as I tilt my head slightly, taking out my fidget box out of my bag and on the floor.

"Yeah, remember when I first broke my arm around you, I was grouchy for weeks because I thought this would happen but not so soon or as painful," Melissa says, a smirk-like smile on her lips, she had picked her keys because of the panda key chain she had.

"Yeah, remember when Murphy's Law broke my legs? I sulked the whole month I was there!" Zack said with a gentle smile but jokey tone, he had picked something I couldn't remember the word of, but then he crossed his arms and adds, "Also I don't think it helps that Bradley's made out of 99% salt,"

"Hey! That's my boyfriend you're talking about!" I laugh quietly, elbowing him gently, he and Melissa were laughing as quietly as they could too.

"Alright alright, Let's just get this project done," Melissa says as she opens up her book and a 2B pencil for her sketch and me and Zack do the same except I use a 4H pencil and Zack uses a HB pencil.

I place my green and white fidget box and tilt it to the side for a 3D perspective as I get my pencil and paper and start to draw.

SNAP!

There goes the pencil, good thing I have plenty of spares for this situation...

..................

Bradley's POV /surprise! :^0\

I sat on the bed, tears streaming down my face but I've learned how to keep it quiet so I didn't worry anyone or to not seem weak. That didn't stop my body shaking and me feeling sick to my stomach. I bit my lip but my breath was still shaky. Luckily, Milo couldn't hear or at least didn't bother to care. I hear them whispering, I know they are talking about me, I could just feel it by the weight on my chest as I stayed still like a statue of stone. Then they laughed, I felt worse and worse by the second, I felt like I dragged them down, maybe I did. I tried to get the bad thoughts out of my head, I tried not to scratch my wrist until it was red and stinging, I thought of what Milo would think and stop these harmful thoughts but I guess I wasn't very good at anything was I? 

I look at my wrists, my nails were too dull from me biting on them to draw blood but it still hurt like hell but not enough, my razor was still with the nurses, they took it away to keep it from harm. I bite my nails a lot, I don't really notice till at times like now when I need them, it was not a good habit and I know that but I only do it when I was scared about Murphy's Law begin a problem or what my parents and students at school would say about me, two of my biggest fears I would never tell to anyone. I was scared of Murphy's Law, it was just so unpredictable and so dangerous, I didn't want him to be hurt, I've seen all of his cuts and scars, I don't know how he deals with it, I wonder some nights how much it must hurt, not his wounds but begin ignored or feared by others because of this. 

I know I shouldn't be scared of it, I mean, Melissa and Zack are fine with it so why shouldn't I? Despite my fear, I still want to hold him close, I don't let my fear take control me and stay as close to him as I can before Murphy's Law takes him away from me. I know it will happen one day and I know too early in his life but I defiantly don't want to think about it, now or ever. I try to calm down, I look at my wrists and I was horrified, god why did I do this? It still stung, it was visible and I knew that Milo wouldn't like this one bit. I clutch my stomach as I felt so sick to my gut, I was disappointed in myself, I promised myself and him that I wouldn't do this again. I feel tears wanting to stream down my face again after I only just got rid of them so I quickly wiped them and tried to toughen myself up, I needed to stop begin like this. 

I let out a few more shaky breaths but eventually calm down and take a deep breath. I stand up from the bed and head over back to the triangle of Milo and his friends on the floor. Milo stops drawing when he heard me I think and looked up at me and smiled. He smiled, after I snapped at his friend and just begin himself, he smiled, it shocked me I must admit but I didn't say a word and just sat down next to him. He smiled wider but his eyes looked sympathetic and pitiful. I hated it. He noticed the tear marks on my face and his smile flattened a bit before sighing and a small smile remained on his face as he wiped them away. Melissa and Zack had noticed me now and looked up from their drawings, I noticed this because I couldn't hear the sound of pencils on paper and I could feel their stares on me but I continued to look in his eyes, I felt so happy just like this. 

Milo hugged me and I smiled, it was real and despite the fact that it kind of hurt due to not smiling in a while I didn't stop and I hugged him back, he was warm to the touch that lit up my cold heart. I couldn't believe that only in a short span of time of only a couple of weeks I would be dating Milo Murphy, my former enemy, someone I used to hate so much just because he had Murphy's Law, something he could not stop. God I was a jerk, a bully even, I am so glad that he forgave me just like that and was still concerned about me when I was still so awful to him before. I hold onto him tighter, not wanting to let go of this hug but then I hear two awfully familiar people in front of us say in what I think could be a bit of a teasing tone.

"Awww! You guys are so cute!" Melissa says, making me blush slightly, okay a lot, as I get out of the hug in a hurry.

"I call Best Man at the Wedding!" Zack says with a massive grin on his face, making Milo blush madly, god he was cute.

"I call Best Women!" Melissa yells.

"That's not even a thing," Zack explains, a goofy smile spreading on his lips.

"I'll Make it a thing!" Melissa exclaims loudly with a grin on her face.

"Guys guys!" Milo cuts them off with a massive blush on his face that made his whole face red and a deafened and nervous smile on his lips, "We're not even old enough to get married!"

They laugh and me and Milo do too but quieter and more nervous with both of our cheeks flushed bright red, this was nice, to know that nothing was wrong, that everything was going to be okay, then I remembered that I had to go back to school in a couple of days and my parents are mad at me because of my cutting and the medical bill they got a week ago. At least I still had Milo. I smiled as I looked at my former enemy , now the love of my life, at least I still can him in my life. I reached to grab his hand, my hand with the scratches on it was hidden behind my back, I was terrified to the thought that they might find out, Milo thinks that I've stopped, it was true, I had stopped, this is just a relapse and I'll stop after this heals, I promise myself but I knew that one day I was going to break that promise.   
It's an addition, like drugs or alcohol, it's so hard to stop. I tried and laugh with them but it hurt so much to pretend to smile, to pretend that I'm okay. Luckily the laughing had died down and they started to draw again, leaving me with nothing to do. I sigh and frowned as I placed my hands in my lap, gripping onto the edge of the hospital gown. I stared at my wrist, I felt like crying but I was too tired to feel anything, I wanted to sleep but I think too high enough of myself to believe I deserved it, it's not like nightmares would wake me up anyway. I was so tired of everything. I looked at Milo, he was drawing one of his stimming objects, the fidget cube or something. I knew he was autistic, I knew even before we were dating, everybody knew and most people was cool with it.

Sometimes it was hard for some people because when he would get into a fight with someone about what he said, he doesn't know he did anything wrong, he doesn't know what he said had hurt the other person. Another reason why it was hard for some people because of his lack of sympathy, he doesn't really have a wide range of emotions, and you know, kids can be mean, most kids are close-minded bigots who don't understand anything when it comes to people who are 'different' because that's how their parents had taught them to be. I stare back up at him, he was smiling slightly as he drew the sketch, why was he smiling? What on this earth was there to be happy about? I don't understand him sometimes. He notices me staring and looks up from his drawing and looks at me, smiling a big, toothy smile. 

He looked so happy so I smiled a bit back. I felt like I had to but it didn't hurt this time, I blushed a bit just after my red face had died down as I looked at him, I was in love. Milo looked at me but then spotted something on my wrists and his smile disappeared, oh no. He grabs my wrist gently and runs his thumb over the red mark and the scratch marks, he doesn't look happy anymore, Oh no. He looks back up at me, I wasn't smiling anymore and neither was he, he looked sad, scared, maybe even mad, I couldn't read his expression it was unreadable, Oh No. he mouthed the words 'Why?', I couldn't answer, I had no idea why I did it, I just couldn't find the right words to say, there was nothing to say, I had messed up, I made him sad, I messed up.

I felt my eyes watering but I tried to toughen up and stop them as I looked down at my lap, my hands as fists, my nails digging into my palms tightly but with dull nails meant no pain. When I didn't respond, I heard him sigh, was he disappointed in me? Was he going to leave me? My heart stopped at the thought, I didn't want to think it but it was possible and I was panicking more by the second. But then I felt fingers on my chin and Milo made me look at him, he wasn't mad not at all, he was smiling a sad smile, he also seemed tired but that didn't stop him from comforting me by then cupping my face and used to thumb to wipe away a tear that was running down my cheek, kissing my forehead and whispering to me, 'It's okay...', and you know what? 

I believed it,


	5. The Return

Bradley's POV

I'm not 100% why I believed it but I did, maybe it was because I would believe anything that came out of his mouth because I couldn't think of any way that he could lie to anyone, sometimes that would get him into trouble for begin Too honest with people about things he should not say, because like I said before, he didn't quite know what was wrong or right, I knew he couldn't lie to me, and that's why I believed it. So I let more tears fall as I hugged him and I could feel his slight smile as he hugged me back. I didn't sob or even make a sound but I did let my tears fall down my cheeks and into his shoulder, I just let it out, all my bottled emotions that I've tried to keep out all start to pour out of me through tear form. I feel him hugging me tighter like his life depends on it like he was afraid I would leave as I go numb and let go of him to not seem too clingy. 

We stayed like this until Milo finally let go even when I didn't want him to because he was so warm and cuddly despite his body armor and the anchor in his backpack, which I still have no idea how he lives with all that heavy stuff on him like it's nothing, but I guess I did pull away first. We look at each other, he smiles sadly but then frowns and whispers so Melissa and Zack doesn't hear which I appreciated because I didn't really wanted them to know because I didn't want them to know about my addiction. At least I call it an addition, like it's alcohol or drugs, they all three of these things bring harm to me but is it really an addiction? Milo whispers to me as he gently grabs my wrist to not hurt me.

"Please... Please promise me that you won't do this again... or at least please try to stop..." He sounded so desperate and made me feel so guilty like a stab to the heart, like there was pit in my gut or a knot that wouldn't go away.

"I... I promise..." I say and he smiles, I wasn't sure if I could keep my promise but he didn't need to know that, not now, not ever.

"Thank you..." he says as he goes back to drawing as I thanked god that Milo was going to leave it at that.

I watch him draw with my head on his shoulder, I was so tired, mentally and physically, but I wanted to stay awake for him because if I fell asleep then he wouldn't be able to move because I would be on him and I knew that he wouldn't have the guts to wake me up. It took a while, not exactly sure how long but a while, but they all finished their pictures, they were all pretty impressive for a 13 year old but that was probably because my standards on art were pretty low due to my lack of interest on the subject. Everyone soon had to go as they had homes to get back to, but as I tried to get my head of Milo's shoulder so he could go, he placed my head back down, he wasn't leaving. Melissa and Zack wave goodbye after they collected their stuff but before they went, I said.

"Um hey Melissa, I'm sorry about before..." It was like a weight had been lifted off my chest, I still felt guilty about it but she just shrugged with a smile on her lips.

"I forgave you a long time ago, it's fine, we all have our bad days," she says as they left, closing the door behind them, and I smiled, feeling a bit better about myself as I stood up, I didn't quite feel like sitting on the floor any longer as the tiles were very cold.

I lay down on my bed and Milo joins me but as it was a single bed, he had to cuddle up tight but I didn't mind, I think it was better this way. We looked into each other's eyes, smiles on our faces, like nothing else mattered. It was nice and we didn't even have to say a word but the silence was comforting, no awkward tension or cricket sounds. We talked, he was going back home tomorrow and then in a couple of days going back to school. Milo was a bit more excited then I was, I wasn't look forward to going home but neither would everyone be if I their parents like I did and I'm not looking forward to me begin treated like that all over again after getting a break from them but there was nothing I could do because I was just a kid, nobody would believe me or Milo if we went to a teacher or even the police.

"Looking forward to going back to school?" he ask, avoiding the question of my home life to not make it awkward again, which I was glad, and I just chuckles and says with a sly smile on my lips.

"No, not at all, who would be?" The thought of school was tiring, the homework, the exams, the busy hallways, not to mention other kids, they were a nightmare and just so immature.

"What? Aren't you looking forward to see me more often?" he ask, in a joking manner and I chuckles again and I kiss his nose, making us both blush the slightest despite having kissed lots of times before.

"Yeah, I think that's the best thing about going to school," I say and he smiles wide, his eyes twinkling like there was stars in their eyes, it made me smile too.

We continued to talk about school and Murphy's law disasters and stories from the past, nearly anything we could think of. But we both knew that it wouldn't last forever, this time we have together and yet we didn't want to think it, it did happen after a while, the visiting hours were done and Milo had to leave. We waved goodbye as a nurse took Milo away to the exit and I sat on my bed, turning the light on as it was starting to get dark. At least there was a plus to getting out of here, I could see Milo more often, no more visitation hours or nurses and doctors checking on us but I guess there is the thing with no public affections because our relationship is very secret. I sigh and lay down, I'm going home tomorrow so I can't be tired. I close my eyes but all I could think about was Milo, sleeping was pretty much hopeless...

..................  
Milo's POV

I got home a little bit later then I was supposed to be because I missed the bus and then the next bus broke down, it also was raining when I got out of the hospital but I was used to things like this happening. I got inside, closing the door behind me quietly in case I could disturb them, taking off my rain coat and out on the drying rack to dry so I could put it back in my backpack in the morning and slipping off my shoes and put them with the others. I went to go walk up the stairs to my room due to how tired I was, a lot of drama happened today and I just wanted to go to sleep but as I heard a voice that sounded like my mother call from the kitchen.

"Milo?" she says, calling out my name in confusion and I approach the room saying back.

"Yeah Mom?" My mind think about what I had done this time but as I came into the kitchen, I feel arms around me and mom hugged me for dear life, nearly choking me as I gasp.

"Where were you?! I was so worried when you didn't come home and I tried calling you but you didn't pick up!" she says and I was immediately confused, I could of sworn I had sent a message about staying late and I got my phone out of my pocket and opened up the message to see that it had not send.

"Oh oops, I forgot, there is no service in the hospital," I say out loud by accident as I put my phone back in my pocket and I could see my mom's eyes widen.

"Hospital? Why were you in the hospital? Did you get hurt?" She asks as she looks all around me trying to hide out if I've been hurt at all but I quickly responded.

"No no, I'm fine, I was just visiting a... friend," I say, chuckling a bit nervously as my mom sighed in relief before looking at at me, puzzled.

"I didn't know Zack or Melissa got hurt, What happened?" She asks and I pause nervously, what could I say? What could I do?

"It wasn't Zack or Melissa actually... It was Bradley..." I say, fiddling with my thumbs as I look at the floor at my feet, never mentioning that he wasn't technically my 'friend' but boyfriend but she can't know that.

"Bradley? Isn't that the boy that was bullying you?" My mom asks and I bit my lip nervously, there was a lump in my throat but quickly respond to explain so she didn't misunderstood him.

"No, it wasn't really bullying, he just hated me and had every right to but I've... finished the problem and now we're friends," I say, I didn't like lying to my own mother but I didn't have much choice right now, maybe one day I can tell them the truth but not now.

"I see, well, I'm really proud of you Milo, making friends left and right," she chuckles and ruffles my hair which makes me chuckle too but then she sighs and says, "I can't wait to see your dad's face when I tell him..."

"What does that mean?" I ask with confusion and curiosity in my voice as I tilt my head to the side slightly, but she just smiles gently and said.

"Well, when your father was younger, he didn't have any friends because of Murphy's Law and only got his first friend when he was around 14, you are so lucky to live in this time where stuff like this is more accepted," She sighs before looking at the clock before adding, "Why don't you go to bed, you seem so tired,"

I nod and start heading up up the stairs but I stop and turn to her and say, "Who was his first friend?"

"It was me, I was the only one willing to go up to him and talk to him, he has changed a lot through out the years, you should of seen him..." She says and I smile, dad never really talked about when he was younger so it was nice to know a bit more about how they met.

"I wish I could... Good night mum," I say as I started heading back up the stairs and she calls back up at me.

"Good night Milo! Love you!"

"Love you too!"

I get into my bedroom and quickly take off my bag, stretching as I feel my usual back pain kicking in, I groan and fall onto the bed, stomach first and I was too tired to get back up again. After a while, I sat up, taking off my slippers, socks and sweater vest, placing them on the floor in a pile, I was too tired to actually get my pajamas on as I could already feel my eyes getting heavier. One thought was racing in my head though, my mom said 'you are so lucky to live in this time where stuff like this is more accepted', I wondered if that meant that people might accept me and Bradley, I mean I didn't know many other people in the LGBT+ community, I knew that Zack was gay but I wasn't sure if he was out to the school that didn't help me much. I got under the covers and closed my eyes, the only light was the moonlight coming from my window. I feel myself slipping away and before I knew it, I was asleep.

..................  
-A week later-

Bradley's POV

I stepped onto the bus, it was my first day back and it hasn't even made it to the school and I was already hating it, I just felt so tired and I felt like a zombie just falling the crowd. I guess it was better then hearing my parents arguing for one more minute and at least I had Milo now. I showed the bus driver my bus-pass and I was allowed on as I looked around for somewhere to sit but then I saw Milo with Melissa and Zack talking and he saw me and waved over at me to come sit next to him by the back. I did so, placing my backpack off my shoulders and onto the floor and smiled slightly at him and he smiled wide back at me. The bus doors closed and started to move again after the last student at that bus stop got on and sat down.

Melissa, Zack and Milo got back to their conversation and I sometimes would say my opinion on the subject as we rode to school. Before I knew it, the doors were opening and we were at school and I followed Milo, Melissa and Zack out but I mostly just talked to Milo as I had a fear that his friends might not like me despite telling me that they do. I went into school, only leaving Milo's side when I had to go to my locker and got rid of some of the stuff out of my backpack before going to my first class, English with Miss Wainwright, ugh, great why to start a new day with my Least favourite lesson. On the way there, people said hi to me and asked me how I was, apparently more people cared about me then I was expecting and it happened more in class as I sat down in my normal seat next to Mort, leaving me so confused. 

I wondered if they are only saying that because they feel like they had to because I didn't know half of people that just talked to me. I got out my pen and pencil as well as other utensils as the teacher got the front of the class to begin class, all the students sitting down and shutting up slowly. Miss Wainwright briefly talked about what we were going to be doing and also welcomed me back into of the whole class so all eyes were on me for a while, which was really embarrassing, and she handed out a sheet to every kid in the class. I scanned the page and understood it perfectly despite missing a lot of classes because there was no way my parents would let me get anything below an A+ grade, which might sound stupid, and it was, but they had a high reputation so I couldn't let them down. 

I picked up my pen and I was about to get started when I heard panicked shuffling, I looked up and saw Milo, who was in front of me, rumbling through his backpack and mumbling, 'I swear I put my pen in here...'. I sighed, I took out my spare pen and tapped on his shoulder, he turned around and I passed it to him without even saying a word to him and he hesitantly took it but then smiled wide and I smiled a bit too, he mouthed 'thank you' because of the teacher's strict no talking rule. I just continued to smile as he turned back around to his work and starting to write very delicately so he didn't break the pen even though I wouldn't mind that much if he did break it as I have more spares at home. I sighed dreamily as I looked at him but then I saw Mort look at me with a knowing smile out of the corner of my eye and I immediately frowned as I looked at him.

"What...?" I whispered to him as I blushed a bit to know that I got caught but he just tries to not laugh as he whispered to back at me.

"I never thought you would like Milo at all, especially not like in that way," He smirks and I blush so hard I think my whole face was red and I stammered and couldn't say anything but he just chuckled quietly as he adds, "Don't worry I won't tell him,"

If only he knew, "...T-Thank you..." I whisper, finally able to say something after calming down but then a thought went into my head and I add, "Wait... You aren't grossed out by me begin gay..?"

"Nah bro, of course I'm not, seeing as I'm Pansexual myself" he whispers instantly and and I was honestly so surprised, I never knew he was pan.

"Since when?" I ask a bit too loudly so it was a loud whisper and the teacher glares at us and shuts us up before Mort leans over to me and whispers.

"For a while now, I thought you knew," he says and I quickly shake my head and he shrugs his shoulders as he gets back to work and I pause for a minute before going to work too.

I wasn't really thinking about what I wrote because, firstly, it was too easy and, secondly, I was too busy thinking about how there was others like me and Milo, even if it was just one person, at least I came out (sort of) to someone. I was the first one to finish despite my late start but I didn't tell the teacher as I didn't want to seem like I was showing off and also mainly because I didn't want to get more work. I put my pen down when I had checked it a couple of times, I looked around the room at everyone else, they all had their heads down to their papers, the sound of the pencil lead scratching on their work and the clock ticking for every single second filled the room as my finger started to tap to the pace of the clock. I looked at in front of me, letting my mind wonder but when a thought came to my mind when I realised it was a bad idea.

I picked up my pen just to start tap my pen on the table, looking around to the left and right at everyone's every movement, this was boring. Guess more work it is, I thought as I put my hand hand up and the teacher came to me and without even a second thought, as she knew I was never the one to ask for help, picked up my paper to see it complete, she was not surprised. She then marked it, full score, neither of us were surprise as she sighed and said in her dull tone.

"I wasn't expecting anyone to finish it this fast so you can help other people or something, I guess," I just nod and she grunts before going back to her desk, I always hates her, she was lazy, hates kids and doesn't do her job right at all but as the teacher pet I unfortunately was, I didn't say anything about it.

I stood up, going to the front of the room and looked around. Nobody seemed to be that lost but then my eyes landed on Milo, he looked so confused, he wasn't even writing anymore with my pen he would hold like it was a bomb that would explode if you moved it to fast or something, he was just staring dumbfounded at his paper. I sigh and walk over to him, he hears me coming to him and looked up and smiled when he saw me, I couldn't help but smile back. I then whisper to him.

"I've finished and I've now got to help someone else, do you get this?" I guess I sounded a bit bored but Milo shook his head anyway.

"Not really..." he whispered back.

"Well what part don't you get?" I ask.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is so dull, it is just a filler so I can get into the good/angsty stuff


	6. The Fight

Milo's POV

The bell rung for break and everyone was racing out of the door, as Bradley went out, I gave him back his pen and we shared a secret smile to each other as he left, I had to pack my bag so I was a bit late out. I walked outside, my bag hanging on only one of my shoulders as I looked around for my friends but a big crowd around something that draw my attention first and I went over to see what the big fuss was about. As I got closer, people let me through as they were afraid to get hurt by Murphy's Law, which made me frown, it was over exaggerated a lot. I got to the middle of the crowd and I could see two boys fighting, one I instantly noticed as one of the cool kids who thinks that they are better then everyone and the other kid looked a lot like Bradl- OH MY GOD THAT'S BRADLEY! 

My eyes widened as I see Bradley getting punched before he kicked the kid off of him and started to beat his face in. I was frozen with, surprise? Fear? I don't know but I was paralyzed, I had no idea what I was supposed to do. I only started to move when Bradley was getting hurt badly, his glasses were smashed and a piece of his clothing had been ripped, I yell his name but it was drowned out by everyone else's screams and cheers. I run over to him and push the cool kid off, pushing him to the ground as I picked Bradley up, his lip was busted and his nose was bleeding. The other guy had a black eye, bruises, cuts and gashes on his body, both were hurt badly. Bradley tried to go to him again again but I held him back as some of of the cool kid's friends held the other guy back.

I take Bradley out of the crowd and a lot of people booed and shouted because they were enjoying the fight but I just kept on walking away as Bradley had his arm wrapped around my shoulder, limping, so I had to hold him up with my hand around his waist. He had his glasses in his hand, they were shattered, what the hell happened while I was away? I was only gone for a bit but I guess there was that thing with the sink and the teacher talking to me but how could this happen in such a short time? What had even happened at all? I stopped and put him down on the bench and he crossed his arms and so do I as I look down at him, he doesn't look back at me. People walked by us but didn't even bat an eye but I still spoke quietly to not draw any more draw anymore attention to us .

"What the hell was that?" He looks up at me and sees the stern look I was giving him and he softened up instantly, looking a bit scared before clearly his throat and said.

"Well in my defense, if I didn't attack back then I would of gotten destroyed," He claims and I put my hands on my hands and say for a response.

"Well who threw the first hit?" I felt like I was was interrogating him and he paused and he looked down at his lap, guilt on his face.

"Me...." he admits, fiddling with his thumbs and I can't help but have to hold back a chuckle.

"Annnndd why did you that?" I say, trailing my word and speaking like a mad mother to a child.

"He said something really really... terrible," he says and I waited for him to speech again but he didn't but I knew he must of said something bad so I sat next to him, making sure I didn't break it.

"Bradley...? What did he say...?" I ask and he sighs, not looking at me, and then he said with a distraught tone what happened.

................  
Bradley's POV

I went outside, kids were swarming the ground in small and large groups, occupying every bench and place to sit outside. I sighed and started to walk around but I was stopped by the gang of cool kids, they were the people that were at the top of the food chain along with the girls with skirts as high as they can be and are always gossiping and they are always the start of bad rumors. These were the bad kids, the ones that were smoking behind school and and relays breaking the rules, nearly everyone hates them but they think they are sooo great. Everyone has to nice to them though because god fibbed you get of their bad sides, you were dead on the spot. They walked in front of me, blocking my path and I stopped, waiting for them to tell me what they wanted.

"So rumor has it that you hanging with that Murphy kid," The leader says, I think his name was either Jake or Jace, I get them mixed up seeing as I barely knew them as they weren't in my class.

"Wow. Rumors spread fast, don't they?" That was all I said because I knew that the cool kids didn't like Milo, they didn't like anyone who was different from them and targeted anyone who have something to be mocked about them.

"So is it true?" The leader asks, a scowl on his lips and on everybody's faces in his group, I had to think carefully about what I said now...

"Well we're not really friends," I said, I wasn't really lying though, I just never said anything about him begin my Boy friend but hey if I want to save my skin then I shouldn't say that out loud.

"Then why we're you begin so friendly with him in class, huh?" He asks, getting into my face and prodding me in the chest, it was slightly intimidating as he was a head taller then me but that didn't stop me from getting annoyed.

"Get out of my face, I told you, I'm not his friend, and don't touch me..." I mutter and his face turns into a sinister smirk as he chuckles darkly and all his friends start laughing like they was his puppets on his strings.

"Or what? What are you going to do about it?" The leader says with a sneer and I cross my arms and sigh in annoyance but I don't say anything, he chuckles, "Of course, you can't do anything because you're nothing, you only pretend to be hard but you won't do anything about it,"

"Why the hell are you even doing this? I didn't even do anything to you guys, what's your problem?" I say, a snark response, they won't like that, well damn, I have done something wrong I guess, his smirks disappears and his frown deepens.

"Your boyfriend is my problem," He says, obviously meaning Milo, god how was he right and he didn't even know it, I sigh but it sounded more like a groan as I look at him in the eye and said.

"How many times do I have to tell you that he's not my friend? Just ask anyone, they'll say that I despise him," I was annoyed now, getting more inpatient and I think I finally convinced them and I was going to be finally free but then they said.

"Fine. But let me give you some advice. Just don't hang out with him or you'll end up like a freak like those kids that are stupid enough to be near him." I couldn't bare to hear somebody talk about my friends and my boyfriend, freaks, if I stop him though then they will get annoyed at me but... Eh what the hell, we only live once and I might as well end my life early.

"Don't... Don't call them freaks," I say, a frown on my face and they freeze before scowling again, getting into my face again so close that I could smell his cigarette smoke breath.

"Why shouldn't I? They are all weirdos, I think that Murphy kid's friends must be crazy, wrong in the head, to be near that freak show, he should be in a zoo or in a cage, away from people's harm. I can say what I want and you're not going to do anything about i-" That's when I punched in right in the jaw.

...........  
Milo's POV

"And's about what had happened, things kind of... escalated, after that..." He says, finishing his story, my mouth was open in shock for most of it or either in disgust, even sadness to know that some people will go out of there way to make sure that nobody hangs out with me.

"Oh... Well that Is pretty bad, he deserved..." I say and he sighs, looking down at his broken glass, his back hunched and a frown on his lips before muttering.

"My parents are going to kill me if they find out... No wait, When they find out because there is no way that somebody will tell the teacher," Bradley says and if on cue, a teacher began to walk to them with the cool kid that was in the fight.

"Bradley Nicholson, come with me please, you and Jake are going to the principle's office and then are going home, your parents are already begin called," The teacher said and when they mentioned his parents, he gulped before standing up and turning to me.

"See you Milo, maybe, I might get suspended, I don't know... Wait," he says as the teacher waits impatiently, he takes out a slip of paper and a pen and writes something down before giving It to me, "Text me and I'll tell you whether or not I'll be at school tomorrow,"

"Oh um... Okay! Bye.." I say nervously, looking at the phone number in my hand, smiling wide as he, the teacher and Jake walk away, I blush on my cheeks, I just got a boy's phone number.

I completely have forgot about the fight as I place the slip of paper in my pocket for safekeeping until the bell rang for the end of break I started to walk back inside, people kept on coming up to me and asking where Bradley was and how much trouble he was in. I just shrugged as I really didn't know and I I saw people asking Mort, who didn't even know there was a fight and I knew that he was against violence so that was funny to see his response, and more people in my class the same questions, some people are just so nosy. The rest of the day was about the same, boring and uneventful except for that bunsen burner accident in science and the earthquake in P.E and people asking me questions about the fight and one person even asking me if I was dating him, which I had to disagree to, sadly. 

I guess I never really noticed how much things can change just by Bradley not begin there because I kept on turning to his chair to find that he wasn't there and I always expected that Bradley would put his hand up for every question but he didn't. The end of the day couldn't come soon enough, I was exhausted, it seems like it was more hectic in the drama section today, I sigh and get onto the school bus, sitting next to Melissa and Zack, Bradley was no where to be seen so I assumed that he must of gotten picked up early, which made me worry so much. I clutch the slip of paper in my pocket as Melissa and Zack talk but my head was filled with so many concerning thoughts and conclusions of what will happen or has happened to him that I can barely hear them.

The bus stops at my stop and I grab my backpack, throwing it onto my shoulders and waved goodbye to them and began to walk home, which turned into jog and then I run, I just wanted to go home. I got to my house and put my keys in the lock and went in, there was nobody to be seen but that wasn't a surprise as dad was probably still at work, same with mom and Sara was probably out with friends or in her room. It was great for me though as I take the slip of paper out my pocket and also my phone, walking to my room, closing the door and sat on my bed, a wide a smile on my lips. I typed the phone number into my phone, adding it as a contact and stopped, I was hesitate to press 'call', I have no idea why but I finally started to think, maybe I should wait a bit.. 

But that thought that he might need me or that he might be waiting and also my curiosity mostly of when I will see him again and what had happened came back to my head and I took a deep breath before pressing 'call', putting it to my ear and hear it ring. I crossed my fingers, despite the fact that it has never seemed to do anything for me before as I pray. Please pick up, please pick up, please pick u- The ringing stopped and a familiar voice was on the other line, making my heart skip a beat.

"Hello..?" It was Bradley, I smiled again, finally relaxing, he sounded tired like he just woke up from a nap and I felt a tang of guilt before brushing it off and saying.

"Hey, it's me, Milo, just want to see if it all turned alright," I was slightly awkward, I was never good with phone calls, they make me feel like I am going to have a panic attack as I try to think of something to say.

"Oh um hey, yeah, everything is okay but my parents are furious with me though, I'm grounded now and I am stuck in my room for who knows how long, not like I actually went outside in the first place," he says in a slightly jokey tone and I chuckle sadly.

"Oh, well I wish you luck with that, so did you go home early? I didn't see you on the bus and you didn't return to classes..." I ask, my curiously getting the best of me and he chuckles and says.

"Yeah, I had a talk with the head of behavior, me and Jake are both are having isolation for break times for a whole week, isn't that crazy?" My eyes widened, I have never gotten a isolation, it was the worst punishment they had except from suspension or expelling, all I know is that you had to sit in a room and you aren't allowed to say a word or do anything.

"Yeah, this is crazy, a whole week too? I heard that isolation is where kids who start fires and poison teachers go," I say, the fear could be heard in my voice and Bradley didn't chuckle this time.

"Yeah, I heard that too, have you ever been in isolation?" he asks and I shake my head before remember that he can't see me so I face palm silently before saying.

"No, I may be dangerous but I'm not a bad kid... Have You ever been in isolation before?" I ask and he chuckles lightly, saying in a jokey way but sounded like he was in pain.

"No, there is a reason why people call me a 'Teacher's Pet' Milo," He then winced and my eyes widened and I panic a bit inside but tried to keep calm as I say without a second thought of hesitation.

"Bradley, are you okay?" There was silence on the other line before Bradley was heard sighing before saying in a sad and tired tone.

"Yeah... That guy was just a bit more stronger then I thought," He lied, I knew he was lying or at least not telling me something because his voice going the tiniest bit quieter and higher when he is trying to hide something.

"Bradley... What else is wrong...?" I say slightly sternly and he goes silent gain, it felt like every second dragged on for days but finally he muttered.

"You'll find out when I see you tomorrow..." He says hesitantly and I knew he wanted to change the subject so I say in a attempt to do so.

"Okay... So you're going to school tomorrow, I'd think maybe you would of gotten at least a day suspension, there was blood and everything," I had dread in my heart as I tried to think what he could of mean by that but a smile on my lips as I knew he need me right now to not interrogate him but to comfort him.

"I would of have but my parents convinced the teacher to let me go to school as they said that they didn't want me to fail behind in classes and also because I haven't missed a day ever but I think it was because they didn't want to be stuck with me for a whole day," He says, chuckling at the end but I didn't find it funny, it was like he was used to begin treated like that and I frown but put my thoughts to the back of my mind.

"Huh, that's cool, I guess, wait, I mean that it's cool that you are coming to school, not that your parents don't want to deal with you which I still don't quite understand because I mean, you're so awesome and like I would devastated if I couldn't see you again, like today was so weird without you there," I say, rambling mostly and I would hear laughing on the other side, making me smile wide again.

"Miiilllooo! Shush! You're making me blush!" He says and I chuckle, my insides bubbling with happiness as I lay down on my bed and continue my ramble.

"And I can't image my life without you and I love it when you are so fascinated about something that you talk about it for hours and have this look on your face that is precious, you are so cute when you smile because you have your slight dimple a-" I say, my smile getting wider as I hear him groan in embarrassment.

"Miiiilllloooo! Stooooopppp..." He says, you can sense his smile through his tone of voice and I laugh, god he was adorable, but then I heard mumbling on the other line and Bradley added, "I've got to go but I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

"Oh um, Okay! See you then!" I say, not sure what that was about but continued to chuckle and smile as he ends the call, I sigh dreamily as I put the phone down, but then I hear a chuckle near by and I see Sara leaning on my door frame, a knowing smirk on her lips, I yelp in surprise before saying, "How long have you been there?!"

"I've been here long enough, so, who's this person you are calling?" She says, sitting onto my bed with me and I blush but hide my face in my hands so she couldn't see, she chuckles again, "Aww Milo, don't be shy, so who's this special person?"

"If I tell you... Will you promise not to tell mom and dad..?" I ask, looking up at her and she looks at me confused before chuckling nervously and lightly and say,

"Okay then...? I promise not to tell," I sigh and bite my lip, hesitating but she waits patiently, so I clear my throat and say with a blush on my face.

"It's this boy at school, his name's Bradley and he's really cool, we've been dating for a couple of weeks now..." I say and look at her to see her reaction and she smiles wide, that was not expected, Sara then pulled me into a tight hug.

"Awwwwww Milo! That's adorable! I'd wish you have told me sooner!" She says in excitement and I smile and chuckle, what was I thinking? Why would this go badly? I hug back but then she says, "Why don't you want mom and dad to know..?"

"I don't know... I guess I just want it to stay a secret for a bit longer, so does Bradley as his parents are not the greatest and also most of the school aren't very accepting to this stuff..." I say and she frowns and puts an arm around me but then she smiles and says.

"Okay then, I promise I won't tell," I smiled as I look up at her and I mutter a 'thank you' and I hope she heard it as she gets off the bed and grins before saying, "So what do you want for dinner, it's Friday so we have the house to ourselves so that means we can eat whatever we want,"

"Macaroni Cheese!" I yell and hope off the bed and followed her to the kitchen, maybe things weren't as bad as they seemed.


	7. The Black Eye

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a bit shorter than the rest but I didn't have anything else to put at the end without It dragging on too long

Milo's POV

I got onto the bus the next day, sitting in my usual seat next to Melissa and Zack and at the next stop, like he said he would be, Bradley got on. On his way to us, people clapped and cheered on him, they were congratulating him on the fight as not a lot of people liked the cool kids as they were pretty much the school bullies. Somebody actually gave him a standing ovation, he smiled wide, he did say that the one thing he wanted was attention so I smiled as well as he sat next to me. All his wounds are now healing so I could see the slight gash on his chin, bruises covering his shown skin and as black eye was there, wait, a black eye? Melissa cheered on him as well and Zack patted his back, when it died down and the bus started to move again, he looked at me and we smiled at each other.

My smile was sad though as I knew something was very wrong, I think he noticed that I knew because he frowned and I said in a quiet voice so nobody else can hear our conversation. 

"Bradley... You didn't have a black eye when I last saw you, you must of gotten it at... home..." I say and his frown deepens but then he sighs and chuckles sadly.

"I didn't think you would notice it so fast..." Bradley says, and my heart sinks further, it felt like there was a knot in their stomach, something in my throat stopping me from talking.

"Bradley... Please don't tell me that your parents..." I began but I didn't need to finish my sentence as he already knew what I was talking about, he bit his lip nervously and looked away from me.

"Yeah... They were furious with me because of the fight, they said I was dragging them down for their reputation. It's not like this happens a lot..." he says and I felt the need to hug him but I didn't want to draw attention to us so I put my hand on his but hide our hands to not be suspicious behind his bag.

"Oh my god Bradley, that's still child abuse, no matter if it's just once or every day," I whisper as he looks down at our hands before looking down at the floor, he gripped my hand and sighed but didn't say anything.

The bus came to a stop at school and all the kids ran out of the bus when the doors opened and Bradley was just as in a hurry as the others to get out of there, or to get away from me. I frown as I stand up and get my bag, I try to forget about it as that was what he wanted but I knew I couldn't as that was not what he needed. We started to walk but it felt like I was so far away yet begin at my friends' sides, Bradley was no where to be seen, I was starting to get really worried. I got out my stuff from my locker just as the bell rang and the locker door fell off it's hinges. I sigh and started to head to my first class, Maths with Miss Nolan. I walk into class and sit down, the first thing I notice is that Bradley wasn't there, which was weird because he was never late, like never. 

My concern grows more as I stare at the empty seat next to me. I felt like I couldn't do anything and that made me feel so useless. What could I do for him? I knew I had to report this to the police but as I think of that, it wouldn't be a good idea as we had no proper evidence, people will just say that the black eye will be from the fight, also Bradley told me that his parents are very respected people and have a high reputation to begin perfect, nobody would assume that they were abusive, but the main problem was that nobody would believe us, we're teenagers, most people see us as untrustworthy and shifty. The teacher sat at her desk and began to do the register, calling out everyone's names, but when it came to Bradley's name, he wasn't there to say he was there.

"Bradley?" She asked again and another silence filled the room before she sighed slightly before asked with a blank expression on her face, facing her computer screen, "Has anyone seen Bradley today?"

Most of the people on our bus in our class raised their hands, I did too until she shook her head and typed on the computer, mumbling to herself, "First the fight and now skiving classes, we'll have to call his parents about this..."

"Wait!" I yell, standing up, I could feel everyone's eyes on me and I gulped, I just didn't want Bradley to be hurt by his parents again, I wasn't thinking clearly, I tried to think of something and quick, "I know where Bradley is, he mustn't of heard the bell, I can go get him if you want,"

"No thank you Milo, I am sure he did hear the bell as there is no place where he couldn't of, now please sit down," she says, her mouth twisted into a thin line but I couldn't stop imaging what would happen after his parents get called.

"Please miss, he never misses lessons, he could be hurt or lost, I promise to be quick," I say but she still seems unconvinced so I add with a weak smile, "A-And it would be better then having the hassle of having to call his parents and explain everything.."

She paused, like she was thinking before saying in a dull tone, looking back at her computer screen, "...Alright, fine but be really quick or you both are getting a call home!"

"Thank you miss!" I say but I was already out the door, closing it behind me, my mind was racing, where the hell could he be? My heart was racing, my head was spinning, my palms were getting clammy, I was kind of scared, what has happened to him?

I walked the halls, trying not to seem suspicious as I didn't want to look like I was skiving. He was no where to be seen, I had no idea where I could even start. I checked the halls in case he was actually skiving and just walking around, he wasn't there. I checked the bathroom, it was empty but I checked the stalls in case he was hiding in there. I pushed open all the doors and they were all empty until I came to the last one, I tried to open it but it was locked. I looked under the door and saw someone kneeling over the toilet like he was throwing up, I recognised the bottom half as Bradley, so that's where he is. I stand back up and knock on the stall door, I silence back so I knocked again but a bit louder and say through the door.

"Bradley, it's me Milo, please open up..." Deep concern in my voice and I wait patiently, never actually getting a reply back verbally but I hear Bradley unlocking the door and I step inside, opening the door to see Bradley with his head leaned over the toilet, he groaned.

I kneel beside him and put a hand on his shoulder gently to comfort him, I couldn't see his face as it was hidden with hair that had fallen in the way, "Hey buddy... Are you okay? What's wrong?"

"I feel like shit..." he groans out as he lifts his head up, I could see him now, he had tear marks on his cheeks, his eyes were bloodshot and he had bags under his eyes, he did look terrible and he had a disgusted look on his face as he swiped some hair behind his ear.

"Oh... that's probably due to your body reacting to a very stressful situation, causing you to feel queasy," I say and he groans, I frown before adding, "Come on, get up, the teacher thinks your skiving and are going to call your parents if we don't get you back into class soon..."

"Okay okay... I'm getting up," he says and stands up reluctantly and I do so too, my hand never leaving his shoulder as he walks out of the stall and to the sinks, I watch him as he splashes water onto his face.

"Do you feel okay now..?" I ask and he nods as he tries his face with a paper towel, he sighs and disposes it before looking at himself in the mirror, he looked disgusted so I placed my hands on his shoulders and made him look at me.

"Bradley, about before, I just want to say that I'm glad you told me," I smile and he smiles too but more weakly and only slightly, I take a glance at the door before kissing Bradley on the cheek, he blushes madly, his smile falling and I chuckle.

But then he cut off my laugh by kissing me on the lips, I frozen for a second before closing my eyes like he was, he wrapped his arms around my waist. A blush formed on both of our faces and there was no space between us anymore. I missed this, I must admit, we haven't been able to do anything affection as we have been at school, begin a secret was hard as all I wanted to do was hold him in my hands. We exited when we needed to breath and we both chuckled weakly as we stared in each other's eyes, still attached to each other, huge blushes on our cheeks. We let go of each other and without a word said to each other, we walk out of the bathroom, hand in hand. We would let go of each other's hands if someone was walking past us in the hall but we made the most of it as we approached the class. 

We let go for the last time as we walk into the class, the teacher stopped talking midday and her eyes and everyone else's were on us, I gulped nervously and bit my lip but we just walked up to our seats and sat down and the teacher continued her lesson but that didn't stop everyone from staring, it was pretty obvious that everyone wanted to ask us a lot of questions immediately but they couldn't and I was glad, I didn't want to get bombarded with question just yet. I listened to the teacher, she was talking about incoming events and tests and ways to revise probably, I lost interest after a while. I looked to my side at Bradley, I smiled a bit before sneakily taking ahold of his hand under the table, he froze. We were at the back so nobody would see us and I smiled wider when he gripped my hand back. 

We stayed this way throughout the lesson, our fingers interlocked and nobody noticed or they did and just didn't say anything about. We were both smiling like idiots, slight blushes on our face but Bradley was a lot more calmer then me. We only letting each other go when class had ended and we had to split ways as we had different classes. I was still smiling like crazy when I went into Science and sat between Melissa and Zack, they looked at me suspiciously.

"What's going on with you?" Zack asks, confusion in my voice and I sigh dreamily, my head resting on my hands, my shoulders on my desk.

"Oh nothing~..."

.....Time skip......

The bell rang for lunch, I hadn't see Bradley since first lesson, I didn't see him in any of my classes as we didn't have him in some of my classes and I didn't see him at break as, like he said he would be on the phone, he was in isolation. I grab my bag and head out of my second to last class and go outside, spotting Bradley leaning on the wall, had not noticed me yet. I walk over to him and he snaps whatever trance he was in and smiled at me, I smiled wider back but then noticed the gossiping girls near us, pointing and whispering about us, my worries intensified but try to put it to the back of my head as I walk with Bradley to the place where me, Melissa and Zack usually have lunch together. It was just this patch of grass with a wooden bench near it. 

We kind of claimed it as our own, it wasn't much but it was cool anyway, especially in summer. Melissa and Zack were already there, sitting on the benches, talking and eating. I sat on the grass, it was a bit warmer today and also because I didn't want to break the bench, and Bradley joined me, 'accidentally' putting his hand atop of mine and we joined into Zack and Melissa's conversation, something about the tests or whatever, my mind was kind of out of it today. They continued to talk but then I hear Bradley whisper to me.

"Hey... So I've been thinking, do you maybe want to... go with me to that new arcade in town with me tonight...? If you want that is..." He asks, nervously, scratching the back of his neck and biting his lip slightly, not looking in my direction with a blush on his cheeks, I blush too.

"Like a... d-date..?" I say quietly and we both blush more as he nods slight before saying almost not audible.

"Yeah... I guess, if you want it to be a d-date..." We were both red faced and nervous when he finished his sentence but then smiled wide and gripped his hand gently.

"Of course I'd want to go," I whisper to him and he looked kind of surprised, looking at me before he smiled slightly to but then I realised something, "Wait... Aren't you grounded..?"

"Yeah but my parents are going out so they probably won't notice I'm gone," he says and I frown, I didn't want to be the cause of trouble, especially for him with his parents but I don't say anything about it.

"Oh okay, I'll text my parents to see if I can go, I'm sure they won't mind, I don't think we've got anything planned," I say as I put my backpack on my knees and took out my phone, hiding it from the teachers outside as I texted my mom.

'Hey mom, do you mind if I hang out with-'

"Just put friends," Bradley says, putting his head on my shoulder to look at the text and I nod and type.

'Hey mom, do you mind if I hang out with my friends on-'

"We're doing it after school right?" I ask, looking down at him and he nods.

"The arcade is near why, just a short walk," he says, looking at the text as I typed, not looking up at me.

'Hey mom, do you mind if I hang out with my friends at the arcade after school?'

I pressed sent and all to do now was to wait for the reply. I had to put my phone away though as to not be suspicious to the teachers but I put it on vibrate before I put it away so I know when my mom would have replied. Bradley kept his head onto my shoulder as we talked, it was nice and not many kids payed any attention to us so it was fine. We started to talk about the date and what else we would do, but we called it our little meet up or something along those lines in case somebody was listening in to our conversation. I was in the middle of a sentence when my phone vibrated in my pocket and I took it out to see the notication, I had a new text message from my mom, I smiled slight as as I opened it up. I smiled wider as I read Bradley noticed it too and read it with me. 

I had to be home by 6 though, which gave us 3 hours, minus the time it takes us to get there, to have fun. I smile wide, my first ever date, I was so nervous, I didnt think I would ever go onto a proper date into my late 30's at least, what is it goes wrong? What if Murphy's Law comes and ruins the whole day? What if Bradley thinks I'm too dangerous and dumps me? I try and stop over-thinking and take a deep breath, everything will be fine, even if Murphy's Law does come by, I'm sure that it will just make it more exciting. Also, Bradley has been through a bloody car crash with me, nearly died and still forgave me, not to mention he is ruining his reputation for me and is purposely begin close to me, knowing what happens to people around me. 

I doubt that he is still afraid of my curse, he is probably used to it by now, but that nagging voice at the back of my head told me otherwise, I hated the voice because it was right, even if I always refuse to believe it. I look at Bradley and smile, I was so lucky that I still have him with me, lucky that he hasn't left me yet. I put my phone away, after thanking my mom of course, and me and Bradley laid there, for once everything was calm, everything was okay. I couldn't wait for the day to end but I enjoyed the moment while it lasted but then the bench Melissa and Zack were sitting on broke, again, and one of the trees in the tiny patch of trees fell nearly on top of me and Bradley, we jumped up and moved out of the way, it missed us by an inch. Now I Really want this day to end soon.


	8. The Date

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is a bit longer than normal (4100 words) to make up for all the words I lost last chapter, I hope you enjoy the fluff! :D

Bradley's POV

I tapped my foot as I waited for Milo at the entrance, we promise to meet here when school ends and walk to the arcade together for our... date. I so nervous, I was practically shaking with fear. What if we get spotted? What if they spread it to the whole school? What if Milo realizes that I'm not worth all the bullying? Thoughts span around in circles in my mind, I couldn't think straight, my mind was like it was full and it hurt so much. As time past and I was getting more nervous by the second, new thoughts coming to me, getting worse ever time. What if he doesn't show? What if he hates me? What if something goes wrong? What if I Do something wrong? What if everything goes terribly and it's all my fault? I couldn't stop worrying but then, like a switch, my mind soothes when I see Milo walking up to me. 

We wave at each other before walking out of the school building, me leading because Milo had no idea where the arcade was. We started to talk about this and that as we walked, telling each other stories of what has happened to themselves but then I had to place my hand in front of Milo to stop him from walking, like an instinct, as we got to the road and a car raced past us, that was obviously over the speed limit, so close to running over us. Milo looks at me, had been so deep in his story that he hadn't noticed the car, he muttered a thank you and I nodded and we began to walk again, me begin a bit more protective over Milo, now I understand why his friends and family are so overprotective, it was scary to know that anything can hurt or even kill him...

We walked, getting closer to the arcade with every step, you could now see it in our view. Milo smiled wider, getting more excited by the second, skipping slightly, it was adorable, he says he's never been to been before, ever. We walked to the entrance, flashing lights and excited yells came from inside as we walked in. We looked at each other and smiled wide as we walked around, trying to find an available game. I stopped at this game that looked like one of those fighting games and Milo went to my side and looked at the game before turning to me and smiled so wide, filled with excitement, I couldn't help but smile too as I put money into it and pressed start. We picked our characters and began to the fight, me using strategy while Milo buttoned mashed furiously, I was afraid that they were going to break. 

I was winning, we were on the third and final round, 1-1 with one more point to win, Milo on won the second round because the buttons got jammed. It turns out, we are both very competitive, Milo was losing health fast, he smashed on his controls more faster, physically looking like he was struggling and I was getting more confident by the second, smugly smirking over to Milo as I take more hit points off him. But then, Milo kissed on the lips when I was smirking, taking me by surprise. I freeze up, my eyes widening, a massive blush on my cheeks and I remained that way even when he ended the short kiss, I only came back to realty when I see Milo take the final attack to my character and win and he began cheering. That's when I realize what he just did.

"Hey! You cheated!" I yell but as the room was loud as it was, nobody drew attention to us, Milo just looks at me, smirking almost innocently, chuckling.

"How was I supposed to know that kisses you would make you react like that?" He says and I cross my arms and pout, the smug look on his face shows that he knew all along.

"Because you've done it before, countless times even!" I yell and he laughs and I sigh, chuckling slightly myself before adding, "Just be lucky that nobody saw us,"

"Oh yeah, that totally slipped my mind..." He chuckles nervously as he scratched the back of his neck before looking back at the game and saying, "Rematch?"

"You're on," I say as I take out more money to put in it but before I could, the screen went black and crackling and sparks came out of it, we both stood with wide eyes but frozen to the place before Milo said.

"Want to go somewhere else..?" A nervous smile on his lips and I look up at him and reply.

"Definitely," So we started to speed walk out of the building, pretending to be innocent and that nothing had happened but as we walked out of the door, we looked at each other and started to laugh, both having no idea why.

"So I'm guessing that's why you never went to an arcade before?" I ask and Milo chuckles, we began to walk along the sidewalk, having no idea where we were going.

"Yeah, too many fragile machines and too many people," He says and I wonder, a thought coming into my head and I ask it before I even think about it, coming out of my mouth before I even realized.

"Then why did you agree to go with me to the arcade? Why didn't you say anything?" Confusion in the tone of my voice and he looks down at me before shrugging slightly.

"I thought I could take the chance... And because you wanted to go and I guess I couldn't say no," He says and I blush slightly as he smiled and mutter an 'Oh' before looking around and realizing.

"Hey, the park is nearby, if you want to go there as we still have a lot of time to spare, unless that's too dangerous for you," I say, smirking up at him and he chuckles and replies.

"I think that will be fine, hopefully it won't be too busy so if something does go wrong then not a lot of people will be hurt!" He was very cheerful when he said, we both chuckled and with that, we changed our course to the park.

We talking all the way there about school and stories about anything before we got to the park, it was surprisingly nearly empty, it was surprising because a whole school had been let out and a lot of kids hang out after school like we had. It was only nearly empty because the group of the same cool kids I got into a fight in from our school, that I didn't recognized straight away as they were a bit away, in one corner of the park, probably smoking or something, not noticing us or not bothering that we were there. The park was fairly big but most of it was just grass and most of the stuff was broken or had to be taken down, the only things left were the swings and the baby swings. I looked at Milo and I think he either ignored the cool gang in the corner all together or didn't not even know they were there. 

He started to run to the swings and I chuckle before running after him. Note to self, Milo is very Very fast, like he practically zoomed off in front of me and there was no where I could catch up to him, he was surprisingly very athletic for not looking it but I think that was just his body armor making him look more plump, by the time I got there, I was panting while Milo was waiting for me, swinging slightly on one of the swings, haven't even broken a sweat. I sit on the swing next to him and he chuckles, I smile weakly as I try to regain my breath, panting out.

"How are... you so... fast...?" I ask and he chuckles more before shrugging and saying only two words with the tone like it was the most oblivious thing in the world.

"Murphy's Law," It kind of made sense as he has had to be fast to get away from all the stuff that is chasing him all the time, I wonder how he hasn't pass out yet, I haven't even seen it at it's worse time.

"Oh," That was all I could think of to say as we began to swing gently, looking forward, I sigh and look at Milo, grabbing his hand and he jumps slightly and looks down at our hands before smiling and gripping my hand back.

"... Do you either wish that we weren't a secret? That we could just do couple stuff in public without any fear...?" He asks, not looking at me when I looked at him, I paused, not write sure what to say until coming up with an answer.

"Yeah... but I guess also no, it would be terrifying, a lot of people are very homophobic in our school, the bullying we already get will probably will get 10x worser, and what if my parents get this information? They would murder me..." I say, gripping his hand tighter, slightly ranting out a vent.

"That's true... I think we can come out to our closet friends though and my family will be very accepting, my sister kind of already knows by accident but she was actually very excited for us," he says and my eyes widen.

"Wait, your sister knows about us? Also how do you that by accident..?" I ask, tilting my head a bit in confusion on the second question, a bit of a scowl on my face and he stops before looking at me and chuckling.

"Oh um yeah, she heard our call yesterday and she kind of figured it out by herself but she promised to not tell my parents until we are both ready," He says and I calm down a bit but I gripped his hand tighter and looked away from him before going into deep thinking.

"You know... If you want to tell your parents, that's fine by me, the way you talk about them makes them seem really nice," I say, a bit hesitant at first, I have been thinking about this a lot and I want Milo to tell his parents, I want to know who I can trust.

"Really? Are you sure?" He asks, looking over at me and I nod, he grins, "Thank you Bradley but I kind of want to do it by your side when I come out as then my parents can meet you and I want you to be okay and ready for that,"

"Oh.. Well, I think I can do that," I blurt out, only thinking for a short time and not thinking about the consequences because I can't think of any off the top of my head, Milo's eyes widened.

"Really? Are you really sure? Are you really really sure? Are you really really really su-?" Milo says and I nodded every time until I finally looked at him, a scowl on my lips and he shuts up, "...That's great! I'm kind of looking to it, I didn't really liked lying to my mom,"

"I'm sorry..." That was all I said, guilt filling me like a weight on my shoulders, I looked down at my lap, taking my hand away from him, I couldn't stand it, Milo did something he didn't want to do because of me, but then I felt a hand on my shoulder, a looked up to see Milo, he was smiling slightly.

"Bradley... It's fine, I didn't really wanted to tell my parents then either, it's not your fault..." he says and I frown before getting a hold of his hand again and smiled, not saying a word and Milo smiled wider and added, "Do... Do you want to start going again? I know this great pizza place we can go to that is Murphy safe!"

"Sure, there's nothing much to do here anyway..." I mutter as we stand and Milo kisses my forehead, making me blush slightly and we both smiled wider as we started to walk out of the park, hand in hand and everything was going great as we talked until we heard a voice yell at us from behind.

"HEY FAGGOTS!" It was the leader of the cool gang, which I now know by as Jake, there was no doubt about it, I didn't even need to turn around, I recognized the voice straight away, my heart stops, him and his group must of followed us from the park, I lean over to Milo and whisper.

"Just keep walking and maybe they'll go away," I hope, shrugging slightly and he turned to me and nodded and we continued to walk side by side, letting go of each other's hands to not make it worse,

Then suddenly, a rock comes hurdling at my head, nearly knocking me over and Milo stops to make sure I was okay as I hear the same voice yell at us, "HEY! I'm talking to you!"

"What the hell is your problem!" I yell as I turn to them, my head was now pounding, I put my hand there and I felt some warm liquid, my head was bleeding, fear filled both of us more but Milo wasn't as good as me to hiding it.

"You both are my problem! I'm suspended now because of you!" He says and walks up to us, Milo was obviously very scared, he was slightly hiding behind me, gripping onto my arm tightly with his skin going pale like he had seen a ghost, I felt the sudden need to protect him.

"Not my problem, you were calling my friends freaks," I say, I tried to keep calm but an annoyed tone in my voice gave it away that I was pissed, Jake growls like a wolf in my face, what a weirdo.

"Oh? So their your friends now? I thought you hated the jinx?" One of his friends behind Jake said and I frowned, remember what I had said before, now regretting my word choice but my blood boiled with rage by the word.

"Don't call him a jinx." I say sternly and they chuckle, it was history was on repeat but their laugh made me feel uneasy, something was different.

"Or what? You're going to hit me again? I've got my whole gang to back me up now and all you've got is a curse weighing on your shoulders," He says and my hands turn into fists, my nails digging into my palm but Milo squeezed my arm and I looked up at him, he shakes his head and whispers.

"Their not worth it..." He was barely audible but I calmed down and nodded as we turned our backs on them and we started to walk away, like any mature person would and I hear one of Jake's friends call out to us.

"What? Does your boyfriend have to pull you away because too much of a wimp to fight us again?" I sigh but continue to walk, why couldn't they just let us go? it's not like Milo did anything wrong, he was just different and there was nothing wrong with that, "Hey! Stop ignoring us you Fags!"

One of the cool gang members ran up to us and pulled on Milo's sweater vest, fast and hard, pulling him back and he landed on the ground, bashing his head on the cement as he whimpered in pain, I stop immanently and go to rush over to him to help but two of the cool kids pulled me back as they started to kick and punch Milo as he crawled into a bowl on the ground and started to pull on his hair and clothing despite his cries to stop. I yell and tried to kick the guys and pull them off me, wanting to save him, wanting to make them stop, but it was no use, they were a lot bigger than me and a lot more strong. Everything was a blur, like a dream, no a nightmare, wanting to wake up as I started to cry and scream for them to stop. 

I was pushed the floor, my cheek tearing away layers of flesh as it skidded across the cement, I saw Milo crying, sobbing, screaming for help, and there was nothing I could do as they crowded around us in a circle, everything was going so fast and I was terrified, they banged my head against the floor until corners of my eyes were filled with darkness, they pulled my hair until I felt like it was going to come out, they pushed and pulled Milo so much that they ripped Milo's sweater vest straight in half, they pushed us down and held us down and wrote something on our forehead with a permanent black marker, chuckling to them self and each other like it was a joke, why didn't anyone see this? Why couldn't the pain just stop? 

They covered our mouths with their hands and wouldn't pull away, even when I bite them, I was either weak or they were too strong, probably both, no one could hear our cries for help. They beat us up, kicking me in the face, punching Milo in the gut, they laughed at us, they threatened us and when they got bored, they left us, spitting on the ground near us, leaving us feeling numb, sprawled out on the sidewalk and I was going out and in of conciseness, my head was pounding, my eyes were stinging, my nose was bleeding, all the cuts, big or small ached, my body ached and I could feel the ink on my forehead and gashes were all over my hands and body. I felt the warm sensation of blood on my hand, I think my lip had split, I could see Milo near me, tears falling from his eyes but I couldn't hear his sobs, only a yelling that was getting more distant as the cool kids walked away.

"That'll teach you a lesson! Next time you will think twice before messing with us again!" 

I felt like I wanted to die, I was in so much pain, I felt like I was going to throw up, I went on arms and knees as I coughed up a bit of blood onto the floor, I couldn't see properly, they had thrown my glasses somewhere, I looked around and saw them on the road but I also saw Milo crawled in a ball with a giant rip in his sweater vest, the edges fraid, looking so small and fragile. I immediately started to crawl towards him, fear and worry filling me, his eyes were wide with fear, tears fell down his cheeks and off his face onto the floor, he was whimpering and his breath was shaky, he was terrified and broken, I started to cry my self as I kneel down next to him, my throat was killing me for all the screaming but I ignored it for Milo as I looked at him.

"M-Milo...?" I said, my voice scratchy and worry, fear and a bit of guilt in my tone, he looked and started to cry more as he sat us and pulled me into a tight hug, sobbing into my shoulder as I hug him back, tears rolling down my cheek.

"I-I... It h-hurts... B-Br... Bradley, I-I just..." He tried to say but he was sobbing too much that I could understand so I shush as we started to rock back and forth in a calming motion, trying to calm him down.

"Shhh sh... I-It's okay... They're gone now... I won't let t-them hurt you again..." I mutter to him and he just sobs back but I couldn't care as I cried with him until we were both calm and sniffling messes as Milo pulled away, wiping away his remaining tears and snot onto one of the edges of his ruined sweater vest.

"I... I'm just so scared... I-I know I shouldn't be, a lot of things worse than his has happened to me before, I should be more like you, you're stronger than me, I know it well but..." He says and I grab his hands, they were as cold as ice.

"Milo, it's okay to be scared, it does not matter what you've gone through before, the truth is that what just happened was scary, it was terrifying, traumatic, nothing like this should happen to anyone, especially something worse to someone as nice as you, you don't deserve this and to be honest... I'm scared right now..." I say, Milo looks at me but he isn't smiling like he normally would but I couldn't blame him.

"...Bradley...? W-what did they put on my forehead..?" He asks after a long pause, he looked at me and I froze, my mouth slightly open as I read what they can put, I forgot about that,

"It says... It says jinx..." I mutter and we both frown, silence falling onto us, I look down at the ground before muttering a question to him, "...What does it say on my forehead...?"

He looked at me before swiping some of my hair out of my face and his frown deepened, "...It says faggot..." He paused before looking around and saying, "...Come on, my house is nearby, we can get cleaned up there..."

"Okay..." I mutter as we stand up and I go get my glasses from the road, looking left and right despite the road begin so quiet, you can never be too safe and we began to walk, Milo was slightly limping, my body ached, I felt like crying again.

The walk felt like forever, like every second was a minute and every minute was an hour, we walked in silence, no telling each other funny stories or playing mini games to pass the time, there was nothing, just awkward silence. I shoved my hands in my pockets, dried blood under my nose and lip where they both shortly bled from the attack but I was sure if I touched it though, it would start bleeding again. My pants are slightly ripped and my only one of my sleeves were still rolled up, I quickly fixed the problem as I noticed one of the buttons on my shirt were missing. I sigh, it sounded more like a groan though, this was terrible, it wasn't even Milo's fault, he didn't deserve this one bit, it's all my fault, if I haven't gotten into that fight then none of this would have happened.

We got to his house, I look at it, it was in better condition then I thought it was going to be for two Murphy men begin the same building as each other but I guess it has been improved and designed to be unbreakable. Milo was slowing down, I didn't know if it was his limp or something self. I look back at him, his hand was hanging low and he was now dragging his feet across the ground like he didn't have the energy to lift them up any higher, I slowed down. he was swaying from side to side, concern filling me, we were so close but he kept on getting slower until he started to fall. I quickly cached him before he hit the ground, he was cold but warm, red liquid was staining his back, he was hurt, bad, he must of fell on something when he got pushed to the ground. 

My eyes widen, I quickly pick him and run to his house as far as my legs would take him, Milo was a lot heavier with the body armor and backpack still on him but I couldn't care any less. I got to his door, knocking frantically, not knowing if Milo had keys on or not. Why didn't he tell me he was bleeding? We could of gone faster, this wouldn't of happened. I waited impatiently, looking down at the pale Milo in my arms, blood dripping from his back to the floor and my worry could not be any higher, my heart was racing against my ribs painfully, he's going to be okay, he has to be okay... Suddenly the door open and a woman, I presume was Milo's mom, opened the door and before she could say a word, I say.

"You've got to help him..."


	9. The Guilt

Bradley's POV

His mom brought us in quickly, his sister and father were sitting on the couch but when they saw Milo they stood up, his sister running off to go get something, probably a med-kit or something as his mother takes him from my arms and places him on the table to see what was wrong. Tears were streaming down my face and my hands were covered in blood, I watched them as his sister quickly returned and his mother and father kneel down next to him. They started to patch him up, worry in their eyes while I stood there, I was useless and so afraid, I didn't know what to do, nothing like this has ever happened to me before. They took off his shirt to see the wound on his back, making him sit up, I noticed so many stitches and scars on his body, long, short, deep, thin, small, so many, some overlapping overs.

There was bruises, old and new gashes, lightning scars, the whole lot, I covered my mouth in shock as they started to patch him up, whispering to themselves. His mother whispered something to his sister and she went running off again and came back with a wet towel as his parents finished off the bandage covering the wound around his torso, resting his on the couch. She started to wipe the words off his forehead, a frown on her lips as she stared sadly at his brother. I wondered if I should leave, not sure if I am wanted in such a personal moment but then his parents look at me and frown, not disapprovingly but more guilty or sympathetic as they walked up to me and the mother was the first to speak up, playing a hand a on my shoulder gently.

"I'm so sorry you had to see this, we knew that Milo hasn't been the most popular at school but we didn't think that it would get this bad..." She says, looking at Milo and I do too but then he noticed the word on my forward and all the cuts, bruise and gashes on my skin, she frowns, "You were there too, I'm so sorry, please sit down, tell us what happened,"

Her voice was gentle and I felt at peace as I hesitantly sat down, the feeling of begin in somewhere else and everything just begin okay after everything made me feel on edge but I tried to put that feeling away as his parents sat in front of me. I could tell on their faces that they had questions but they didn't want to bombard me with them, I probably look traumatized. I started to my lap, clucking my fist around the fabric of my jeans until my knuckles turned white, biting my lip. I could taste the metal taste of blood in my mouth, I had opened my split lip but I couldn't care less. I looked over at Milo, so scared, so worried for him before turning to his parents. His sister sat with her parents, they were all staring at me, it made me feel uneasy but I tried to talk anyway.

"I-I...I'm not sure where to start, I mean, I am still trying to comprehend what just happened but..." I say, trying to regain myself, not wanting to look back on those memories but I knew I had to, they look at each other before Milo's father spoke up.

"Well, who did this to you two...? How old were they..? How many people were there?" He wanted to ask more questions, I could tell by his face but as I started to remember, my head started to hurt, like a hammer was smashing my skull but I started to talk any way.

"There... There was at least 5 to 6 guys, all older than us, 8th graders, I think, there are the popular kids around school, I-I only know one of the kids though, his name is Jake Marshall, he is the leader, I guess..." I say, looking down at my lap, twiddling with my thumbs.

"8th graders..." his mother hides her face in her hands before looking at me and asking with a stern tone in her voice, "Where did this happen...? Where were Milo's other friends? Why did they hurt him? Why didn't you do anything?"

"Dear please calm down, the boy looks terrified, don't forget that he was in the fight too and he brought Milo back..." the father says, it was true, I was terrified, I was shaking and my skin was pale, I felt like crying, I could see bruises forming on my skin and she sighs.

"You're right, I'm sorry... Thank you for bringing back our son, not many people would be willing to be near Milo, it is very unfortunate..." the mother says and I look at them, a mix of feelings of pride and sympathy filling me.

"N-No, it's fine... I just wish I could do more, I'm the reason all of this has happened, it's my fault..." I say hesitantly with a guilty tone before quickly adding to clear something up, "I got in a fight with one of them and I knew something like this would happen but it wasn't my intention to get Milo tied up in this... I promise,"

"... I see, well we better get you cleaned up.." the father says and my frown deepens as I looked at the unconscious Milo on the couch, the guilt in my stomach was like a knot, I felt like I was going to be sick but I forced it down.

"I'll be fine, I'm more concerned about Milo than myself..." I say, fiddling with the edges of my shirt, pulling them down further as I looked back at them, a small weak smile on my lips to assure them that I was okay even if I wasn't.

"Milo is going to be fine, he is really tough but I am sure he would want you to be be okay too," the mother says, standing standing up from her seat, I looked at Milo again, my smile falling but I nodded anyway.

His sister got the cloth, re-wetting it first in the kitchen, and let me wipe the slur off my forehead as Milo's mother cleaned some of my wounds of dry blood, I winced a lot, it stung but I tried to keep quiet and be strong. There was a lot of small cuts on my body, some were kind of deep and were bleeding, I could see where I had cut myself on some of the rocks on the ground before, plasters where added on to those that were bleeding. But then I felt Milo's mother try and roll my sleeves up higher, probably to check if there was any other cuts there that were bleeding but almost like an reflex, I dropped the cloth, that was stained with black marker, that I was holding onto my lap and stopped her by pulling my sleeve down suddenly, blocking her, my eyes widening in fear.

She stops, flinching back in surprise, pulling her hand away from my shoulder as I looked at her, but now everyone was staring at me, towering over me. I felt queasy, sick to my stomach, I felt like there was something in my throat that stopped me from talking and my heart was racing, smashing against my rib cage, with every beat, so much that it hurt. I gulped, biting my bottom lip painfully, my eyes trying to avoid eye contact with them, staring down at my lap, my body was tensed as I reluctantly let go of my sleeve, wondering what was going to happen next, what were they going to do. I had messed up big, I made a huge mistake, they now know, they probably hate me now, oh god I messed up, I messed up bad. Why couldn't I say anything? Just say something!

But no matter how much I tried, I could get a single noise out of my useless mouth, not like I wouldn't say something dumb anyway. I stopped breathing for a second or two, the ticking of the clock was making my head pound, it may of been a few seconds but it felt like days, weeks, months, years. Say something! I was spiraling in self hatred thoughts that wouldn't end but then I felt a hand on my shoulder, I flinched a bit before I looked up to see that the owner of the hand was Milo's dad, he was smiling reassuring, I felt myself getting calmer and I sigh, blocking out the voices in my head as I looked back down at my lap. I had to say something. I can breath a little bit easier but I still struggled to say anything but I tried my best, stuttering and stammering, my throat was raspy and scratchy.

"I-I... I'm sorry... I think I should get home, it's getting kind of late, I-I think my parents will be excepting me back home soon..." I say reluctantly, I was lying as my parents were coming home way later and also I didn't want to leave, I wanted to be there for Milo but I couldn't stand my thoughts that I wasn't wanted there.

"Oh, of course, I understand that it must have been a long day for you, do you want me to drive you home?" His mother asked and I shook my head despite me hearing the rain started to piter-pater on their roof and I didn't have a hood or anything to protect myself from the rain.

"No, it's fine, I don't want to be a burden..." I say, only half lying and they nod as I stood up, looking at Milo again before looking at the door, I grabbed my backpack, that I had discarded on the floor a while ago and threw it on my shoulders.

"It would be fine really but if you're sure that you can get home on you're own safety then I wish you a good evening..." Milo's father said, trailing his words slightly, not knowing my name, I then realized that I had not introduced myself yet.

"Bradley, my name is Bradley," I say blank faced, griping the handles of my backpack tightly, my back to the door, ready to go, his mother though smiled wide and clasped her hands together and his sister immediately began to grin.

"Bradley? So you're Milo's new friend that he was talking about?" His mother asked with excitement in her tone, like a really proud mom, that's when Milo's father's face turns into confusion to why they were acting this way to a big smile.

"Oh my god! You're Milo's bo- I mean, new friend?!" His sister says, fan-girling but had messed a bit which made me panic for a second, yep she knew, Milo had told me that he had told her but I guess I had forgot.

"Um yeah, that's me... Look, It's been great to meet you, seriously, it's been a pleasure, but I've really got to get going, the rain is going to only get worse," I say, tugging of the edge of my shirt, not wanting to leave at all.

"Of course, the rain is getting heavier, are of sure you don't want me to drive you home?" His mother asks and I shake my head, looking up at them with a weak smile on my lips.

"No, it's fine, I don't live far," I say, only trying to convince them despite the fact that I wanted to stay but I was trying to be polite, I didn't want to be in the way.

"Alright then, I guess I will see you later Bradley," says Milo's dad, a happy tone in his voice that reminded me of Milo, I smile slightly and wave goodbye.

"Yeah, it was nice to meet you," I say as I open the door and walk out, they say their goodbyes and I walk away, the rain immediately soaking me, it was really chucking it down and it was dark too, the street lights the only bright source.

I hear the door close to Milo's house through the loud rain and I immediately frown, looking back at the door before sighing and started to walk home. It was so windy that I felt like I was getting lifted into the air, the pellets of rain felt like hail to my head and water blocked up my glasses. My hair got drenched and kept on falling into my face, I growl as I flicked it out of my eyesight. I am going to be honest, I have no idea where I was, it was too dark to tell but I just started to walk to where I think home was. I didn't lie when I said that I didn't live far but it was still a 5-10 minute walk from where I was right then. I sigh in annoyance as I continue to walk, speeding up as the rain got heavier and heavier, windier and windier. I could feel water slipping into my shoes and all my clothes were darker due to the water.

I just held onto my backpack handles tighter and pushed through. After a while, I could see my house in view. I took out my keys from my pocket as I got to my front door and unlocked it. I stepped inside, slipping off my damp shoes but held onto them as I needed a place where they could dry quicker. I place them under the heater as I walked into my bedroom and started to take off my wet clothes and get changed into something dry. I could show any evidence that I was outside as I was still grounded big time because of the fight. I place my soaked and ruined shirt and jeans under my bed, hidden by a box that was under there too. I sigh, I was exhausted, mentally and physically, everything felt like a dream, like nothing actually happened and it was all in my head.

I plopped into my bed and turned off the light, covering myself in the warm covers. I felt surreal, I felt numb, I didn't know what to feel, today had been so wild, so crazy, it's all starting to pile up and I finally get the full picture. It's all my fault, I was the one who threw the first punch, I got in trouble, it's my fault my parents hit me, it's my fault for making Milo care about me, I was too obvious, I was too much of an open book, I let my emotions take control of logic, I messed up, I asked Milo on that date, I didn't help him, It's my fault he got hurt, I am ruining his life. I felt tears slide down my cheek but I don't stop them, I just start to sob, my glasses falling off of my face and onto my bed as I put my knees to my chest and start to wail, tears streaming down my face, I couldn't stop them even if I tried.

I sobbed, burying my face into my arms, everything was starting to pile up and I just had to let it out. I was a gross crier, my lip was quivering, my face was probably bright red, I was gasping for air between sobs and my eyes burned like hell. After I could finally breath and I was left as a shaking, sniffling, tired mess, I stood up and started to open my drawers, where did I put it? I then found it, the other blade out of my sharpener in my bedside drawer. I looked at it, sitting on the edge of my bed, fiddling with it in my hands, the metal cold but my hands were too. I tried not to cut myself on the edge, I bit my lip, tears still escaping my eyes quietly, should I? I mean, I've gotten so far, it's been so long since I've done anything like this and I promised Milo that I would try and stop...

I sigh, lifting up my sleeves and look at the scars on my shoulders, they are so faint, you could barely see them if you didn't know they were there. I hesitated, wanting everything to just go away, I wanted to make everything better, I want everything to be okay, I want to Be okay, I'm not helping myself by doing this but if I hurt myself then maybe I'll stop hurting everyone around me but I'll be failing Milo, he believed in me and I failed again to control myself, he will dump me for sure when he finds out. He doesn't need to find out, he doesn't even care about me, he'll be probably already used to me letting him down, he hates me, everybody hates me and I'm stupid and useless, I can never do anything right... I feel numb, emotionless, just mentally tired. I look at the blade again before begin it up to my shoulder and to my skin...

.............

Milo's POV

My eyes flutter open, I was abruptly interrupted from my slumber by something. I wake up in my bed, my body sore, my body bandaged up, my head was killing me and the lights turned off. I groan, sitting up before wincing in pain, I can barely remember a thing. I look around at what had woke me, the sky was dark outside my window, it must be night time so the sun couldn't of woken me up. I realized that it was my phone, it had pinged as I had a new notification, I sigh, I was tired, aching and numb and didn't want to wake up for days, my body didn't like begin waked up. I opened up my phone, the blinding light made me groan again as I cover my eyes, turning down the brightness before checking the notification bar. I had gotten a new message from Bradley.

That's when all the memories came flooding back, painfully, like a bash to the head, everything that has happened with the older boys and me fainting and all I remember from then is Bradley's terrified face, tears starting to fall down his face and red, so much red, so much pain. I frown as I try and get the thoughts away, I don't want to remember. I open up my messages and read the newest one.

Bradley: I'm so sorry...

Milo: What are you on about? Is everything okay? :(

B: Oh

B: You're awake

M: Yeah, I just woke up, are you okay?

B: Sorry for waking up

M: Bradley please, something is wrong, what's going on? :(

B: Nothing

M: then why did you apologies?

There was a pause where he didn't respond, like he was thinking hard on what he would say. I was scared, I had no idea what was going on so there was nothing I could do to help, that's what scared me.

B: no reason

M: Bradley please! Just tell me, I need to know that you are okay..

B: Why?

M: Because I care about you

B: oh..

M: Bradley, please just talk to me..

B: I'm sorry, it's all my fault

M: What's your fault? :(

B: Everything. I threw the first punch. I asked you on that date. I didn't help you. I make everything worse.

M: Oh no no No! None of what just happened was your fault!

M: You may of threw the first punch but you did it because you were defending me and I couldn't be more proud of you for that.

M: You may of asked me on that date and I am happy you did, it was the best date ever for me and I'm not letting those other kids ruin that for us.

M: and you couldn't defend me because you were in the same situation, you were getting beat up too, it wasn't your fault...

B: ...

B: Thank you...

M: no problem, I will always be there for you :)

Bradley is typing...  
Bradley went offline.

I stared at my screen, frowning, was that really how he sees himself..? He thinks he messes everything up, the person is making my days happier, the person who fell in love with a jinx that ruins everything... I try and stop the thoughts as I turned off my phone and rolled over in my bed, trying to get to sleep. It's now the weekends, I'll only see Bradley or anyone else by Monday. I sigh, maybe it was for the better, I did need to recover, mentally and physically. I close my eyes on the darkness of my room, my headache keeping me awake but my fatigue over taking it as I drifted to sleep.


	10. Waking up

Milo's POV

I woke up the next morning with the sun actually up now as it shone in my eyes through the curtains. I groan, not ready to be awake yet, still thinking about last night. I frown, the covers were warm and I had made a cocoon in it while I was asleep, I didn't want to move and it was the weekend anyway so it wasn't like I needed to be anywhere today. I grabbed my phone and unlocked it, I had four messages from 2 different people, Zack and Melissa, still no reply from Bradley but that was to be expected. I open up Melissa's message first.

Melissa: Yoooo

Mel: How was your date with Bradley yesterday?

Mel: ;))

Milo: It was eventful..

Mel: how so? Do tell

Milo: I mean, it was great at first, we went to the arcade and the park and we were going to go to a pizza place but then some 8th graders beat us up pretty badly, the same people who got into fight with Bradley, and I think I fainted from blood loss?

Mel: Oh my god. That is terrible! Are you okay? :(

Milo: Yeah, I think so, my torso is all bandaged up though and my back is killing me, I think the wound is there. Luckily whatever hurt me didn't hurt my spine, otherwise that Would be terrible.

Mel: what the hell Milo! This isn't just any old accident, this was a public assault, was Bradley hurt too?

Milo: Yeah but not too badly, I think, I'm not sure, I fainted before I could take a good look,

Mel: Oh my god... I'm going to kill them.

Milo: please don't, it'll only make it worse..

Mel: Fine..

Mel: but if they start anything again then I'll get them,

Milo: haha, alright then, :P

Mel: I'm serious

Milo: oh..

Mel: Can I come over?

Milo: Sure!:D

Mel: Thanks, see you later.

Milo: See ya! :)

Melissa went Offline.

I open Zack's message.

Zack: Hey, you doing anything this weekend?

Milo: I think so, I think I need to rest after what happened,

Z: Why, what happened??

M: Well you know the date I went on with Bradley?

Z: Yeah...?

M: Well short version is that those cool kids beat us up and I fainted from blood lose

Z: OH MY GOD

Z: Are you okay?! DD:

M: Yeah, it missed my spine

Z: I'm coming over there

M: I'll be fine

M: Melissa is already coming over

M: Zack?

Zack went offline.

M: Oh my god

I turn my phone of and try and go back to sleep, turning over to my side but before I knew it, Zack and Melissa ran into my room, my parents must of let them in. I sit up to look at them before wincing a bit in pain, my back ached so I place pillow to rest there to help. Melissa stood by the door while Zack sat on my bed with me, he was looking at the bandages, he's often worried about me when it comes to my injuries. Melissa looked at me and said,

"So you got into a fight with those 8 graders..?" She wasn't smiling like normally, she had her arms crossed, it was obvious that she wanted to beat the heck out of those guys who hurt me but she couldn't.

"Yeah, they brought they whole gang as well, there was like... 5 or 6 guys there, it was crazy," I say, counting on my fingers hoe many people I could remember, my expression blank, I had come to terms about what happened but Zack was freaking out pretty madly.

"Oh my god, and you said they were 8 graders? 8! I'm so relieved that they didn't do any real damage.." he says, looking at the bandages as he bit his nails, something he does when he's scared or worried without even realizing that he does it.

"Yeah and I guess we can press charges on to them if I wanted to but I'm sure that they'll go after us again if we did," I say, shrugging my shoulders slightly, I don't see the point in trying to stop what has already happened.

"They can get in serious trouble though if you did, you've got evidence, the wound to your back," Zack points out, clearly wanting to get revenge too.

"People will just say that it was Murphy's Law.." I point out, then Zack and Melissa start to think deeply before Melissa snaps her fingers and says.

"Bradley was hurt too, right? We can use that," I think for a second before shaking my head in disapproval.

"That would be more convincing I guess but people know that he hangs out with me now and they'll also just say that it was from the fight," I say and they frown, knowing full well that I was right no matter how much they disagreed.

"Alright fine... The important thing is that you're safe, right?" Zack says and Melissa nods before Zack eyes opened wider as he realized something.

"Speaking of Bradley, is he okay?" Zack asks and I frown, looking down at my lap, remembering those messages from last night, was he okay?

"Yeah, I think so, I was asleep when he left but he messaged me last night, so I hope he's fine," I say as I open up my phone and open up the messages before handing it to Zack, who read it before handing it to Melissa.

"Why does he think that it's his fault..? There was no way he could of know this would happen," Zack says as Melissa read it, they both now looked sadder, sympathetic.

"I know... Sometimes I just wish that I could help, that I can do something to make him better but I know this sort of recovery doesn't just happen overnight.." I say, scratching the back of my neck, sadness weighing on my shoulders.

"Yeah... Well I mean the best thing you can do is be there for him I guess, he could probably really use it..." Melissa says, running a hand through her curly, ginger locks.

"I guess... I-I'm just So worried about him, I-I don't want him to get hurt, I just want him to be happy, to not feel like... like This!" I say, bringing my knees to my chest, like a ball, as I stutter and gesture to the phone.

"I know Milo but it's going to take time and patience, you don't know how long he's been feeling like this or... you know, hurting himself..." Zack mutters and I sigh, they were right, I tense up at the words of hurting himself before thinking of the text messages last night...

"Yeah..." I say as I think despite my pounding head, could he of started cutting again...? Was that why he apologized...? I suddenly feel horror struck him, I needed to see him, I need to make sure he's okay.

"Hey...? Do you think it would be good idea to stand up right now and walk around...?" I ask, faking a smile but it probably looked nervous and weak and they look at me for a second.

"No way! You're still badly hurt..." Melissa says and I frown.

"Why? What do you want to do?" Zack asks and I twiddle my thumbs.

"I um... I just want to stand up and go for a walk or something... and you know see Bradley to see if he's okay," I say, saying the last bit really fast but they knew what I said.

"Milo... If you want to see Bradley then he's got to come to you, you hurt your back and it would hurt to walk, especially on stairs," Zack says and I look down, I didn't want to talk to anyone anymore.

"I know..." I mutter and close my eyes tightly, I didn't want to think anymore, Melissa and Zack go quiet and then I hear them leaving.

I sigh, I just wanted to see Bradley, it was a need and how much that sounds sweet and romantic, it's killing me so much because I can't hold him all the time, I can't be there for him all the time and it hurts. I didn't know that I needed him before we were dating but now I can't live without him and I am so much happier when I'm by his side. I lay back down, I wonder about calling him or something but I didn't want to seem clingy so I side against it. I look at the ceiling above me, every thing ached in my body, I just wanted to disappear for a while, leave this world. I sigh, I'm not going to go anywhere in life if I didn't do something about it, I needed to call him. I sit up and get my phone, I click on Bradley's contact and press call before I thought a second more. 

I panicked inside as it rang, I wanted to hang up straight away, oh god what if he's mad at me for all of his? What if he doesn't want to talk to me? What if I mess up? I wasn't thinking straight as it rings, he doesn't hate me, I'm sure of it, I hope. It rings and rings, god that sound made me dread every second, it made time seem to go way slower, it doesn't seem to stop. I sigh, my finger near the end call button when suddenly the ringing stops and a voice came onto the other line.

"Hey Milo..." It was Bradley, he sounded tired but still glad to see, well um hear, me, his voice was croaky and his throat scratchy like he just woke up, which couldn't be right as it was 12:25 am, I never imagined Bradley to be the one to sleep in this late or at all.

"Hey Bradley... So how are you doing..? You know, after all that happened yesterday..." I say, trying not to sound too much in pain as I was, I didn't want Bradley to feel more guilty about all this, I just needed to know that he's okay..

"...I'd rather not talk about it, if that's fine with you..." he says, mumbling slightly as I hear him yawn, I would of smiled at how cute it was if I wasn't so worried.

"Yeah, sure..." I say, sounding so disappointed and I could practically feel Bradley's frown at the tome through the phone and then he sighed, thinking deeply.

"... I know that you want to talk about it but I just don't want to think about it, I'm not like you... I guess I just don't want what happened to ruin the fact that we just went on our first ever date and even kissed in public..." he says and I smile slightly, remembering, I had to be remembered...

"Yeah... I kind of forgot what happened before that whole thing... I feel terrible now, I can't believe I forgot our first date, I guess my brain kind of just blocked out anything bad and I guess the date was connected to the whole attack... I'm sorry," I say, not wanting to hear the response.

"... It's okay Milo, really, at least your mind blocks any bad memories, my mind just makes me relive any single memory I have, starting from when I was 4," he says and I try and change the subject.

"You remember when you were 4? I can't remember when I was 13!" I say, not lying, my memory was very bad, you could tell me something and I would immediately forget.

"Milo, you are 13," he says.

"Exactly!" I say and I hear something, Bradley's laugh, it was true and cute and it made me smile immediately widely, my heart skipping a beat but unfortunately his laugh didn't last long.

"Oh my god Milo, you're ridiculous..." he says through a laugh and I know he was joking so I continue to smile wide but then he adds, "Anyway, are you okay...? You um... fainted, after the whole you know what and I was pretty scared because you were bleeding pretty badly,"

"Oh um yeah, I've got a wound on my back but I think it missed any important stuff like my spine so I'll probably be okay by Monday," I say, looking down at the bandages wrapped around my torso.

"Good, good..." he mutters, obviously wanting to say something but can't or doesn't know what to say anymore, I frown, knowing his worries but then he said, "Hey, do you um... mind if I come over...? please..."

"Of course! Well, I mean, I may have to ask my parents first as they don't know you and all,"I say as I crawl out of my cover cocoon and get out of bed, holding the phone between my ear and my shoulder.

"Actually, I've already met your family kind of when I got you to your house, they were nice..." Bradley says, I stand up and wince, my back was burning in pain, Bradley, of course, heard this and said, "Are you okay...?"

"Oh yeah, just my back," I say and I feel guilty because he sounded so concerned so I said straight afterwards, "So you've met my family? What did they say? Please say that it was nothing too embarrassing..."

Bradley chuckles, "They didn't say anything embarrassing, they just mended my cuts and stuff, apparently you've been talking about me because as soon as I said my name, they knew instantly who I was,"

I blush slightly as I chuckle nervously, smiling a small smile as I put a shirt on, putting him on speaker, "Ah, I see.. I mean I guess you say I've mention you a few times, but don't worry, they still have no clue,"

"Cool, anyway, even though I guess your parents know me, can you still ask them because I don't want to just walk in their uninvited," he says and I make a sound of agreement.

'Well I mean, Zack and Melissa just came over without me telling my parents but I guess they know them longer," I say as I take Bradley off speaker and back to my ear after I has gotten changed.

"They did? Why did they come and see you?" He asks and I open up my bedroom door and I start to walk to the living room, barefooted.

"They found out what happened and came over to see if I was okay, they wanted to take the cool kids to court but we don't have any real evidence that they can't just swipe under the rug.." I say, muttering slightly.

"Yeah... It really sucks that they can't pay for what they did to you.." he says and I saw that in the living room, Melissa and Zack were sitting down on the couch, they never left.

"Oh um, they're still here," I say and Melissa and Zack noticed me and they panicked a bit but when they saw I was in no real pain, they smiled at me and I smiled back before sitting down next to them.

"Really? How often do they walk into your house uninvited?" He asks and I chuckle, Melissa and Zack watched me, before realising who I was probably on the phone to and started to talk among themselves.

"Quite often, especially Melissa, they're practically new additions to the family," I say and Melissa chuckles, eavesdropping when she heard her name, Bradley also chuckles but more lightly.

"Wow, that's actually kind of cute," he says and I chuckle more, smiling wide to myself as I feel my cheeks warming up but then I realised something and stood up and walked a bit away from them.

"Wait, you're still grounded right?" I ask and there was a pause, like he didn't quite know the answer to my simple yes or no question, I knew then that something was wrong.

"Yeah... I'm not sure when I'm ungrounded, my parents just said that I was grounded until further notice.." he says in a slightly sad tone before adding, "But they are at work till late so I can leave whenever I want,"

"Ah, I see... When are even are your parents home? They hardly seem to be there..." I say and there was an even longer pause, I was afraid he had left or my phone had broken or something but then he said quietly.

"They um... Yeah, they're hardly here but um... Look, I'd rather not talk about this, sorry, it's just, I don't want to talk about it over the phone, or you know ever, I don't really like to think about this..." I frown but didn't push him on the subject..

"That's... That's okay, just know that I am here for you when you are ready to talk," I say, and he makes a sound to agree and there was a silence...

"Okay, well um, I'm going to ask my mom if you can come over, hold on," I say and Bradley makes the same sound, I take the phone away from my ear and go to the kitchen where my mom was talking to my dad.

"Hey mom," I say and they look at me and their eyes opened slightly in surprise before checking to see if I was okay, the pain in my back was dulling but still stung but I didn't mention it to them.

"You're awake! And standing too, good thing it missed your spine.. Are you doing okay, Milo? Does anything hurt?" My mom asks, very concerned despite me having more major injuries over the past, I guess she is always concerned about me.

"Yeah, I'm okay, it hurt a bit when I woke up but I'm getting used to it," I say, looking down at where the bandages where on my torso, Mom opens a cupboard which was full of med kit supplies and band-aids and pills ect.

"I see... Do you want to some painkillers? We've got a new stock," she asks and I nod, she grabs a box and takes out a pill, she gave me the pill and a drink, I put it to the back of my throat and swallow.

"So..? Is there everything else you need or is that it?" She asks as a tired Sara walked into the kitchen, she yawned and stretched, I waved at her as she got some cereal, she weakly waved back.

"No, I'm f- Oh! Wait! Bradley was asking if he can come over? Please?" I ask and my mom smiles at me, it was nervous but she tried to hide it, I wondered why.

"Of course! I met him last night, he's really nice, but..." she says and I smiled wide until she said but, my smile fell and I panicked, but then she adds, "I think he was a bit traumatised by the whole thing..."

"Oh um yeah, I'm on the phone with him and I think he's feeling better now," I say, let out a sigh of relief, I was afraid she would say something bad about him, that she didn't like him but she was just concerned.

"That's good to here, your dad and me are going to the police today, we're telling then what happened, do you know any names of the kids, we've only got one..." she says and I frown, I don't remember but then I hear a voice appear.

"Jake Marshall, Jason Smith, Kyle Roads, Ben Simpson, Sam Taylor and Charlie Power," It was Melissa, she was with Zack, they had heard our conversation and decided to walk on it.

"Those are the names of the kids, we are not sure about the rest but as soon as we heard that it was the cool gang, we knew it must be them," Zack says and my mom got a pen and paper to write it down, as they repeated it, I frowned.

"So we're going to the police about it? We're going to get them in... trouble?" I ask and my dad nodded, I gulped, they're going to know that we ratted them out, they're going to come after me again...

"Yep, they won't believe a bunch of kids but they'll believe your parents, they are adults, they'll listen to them," Melissa says, grinning at this, this made me feel so much worse..

"Milo? Are you okay?" Zack asks, I think, I wasn't sure, I felt like I was underwater, I felt... scared, I look at the ground before sitting down and bring my knees to my face, rocking back and forth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Wait, am I actually doing this? I have the rest of the chapter, it's just I've reached my word limit ((3500)) hallway through it so I'm sorry,)


	11. Meeting up

Milo's POV

They came up to me, I think, I wasn't paying attention to anything, it was just bright colors, it hurt my eyes. They tried to calm me down but when someone tried to touch me, it felt like ants were crawling under my skin, it felt awful! I screamed, trying to push away, they took the hint that I didn't want to be touched right now and tried to calm me down verbally. I shut my eyes tight as it hurt but I tried to listen to them. I took deep breaths and I could hear actual words, I put the words into sentences and I eventually calm down. I put my hand to my cheek, it was wet with tears, I didn't even know I was crying but that would explain my struggle to breath. I felt tired, numb, I look at the faces of My mom, dad, Zack and Melissa, they looked concerned and had crouched down to me after I sat down. 

I smile weakly, looking away as I stand up, my breath still shaky, my eyes still sore, and I dusted my self off. My throat hurt and was croaky due to screaming, they stand up as well, looking at each other before my mom says.

"Are you okay now Milo..?" She was quiet and gentle, I smiled a bit more, looking down at the ground and nodded, I sniffed and tried to rub away the wetness from my cheeks.

"Yeah... Yeah, I am, Can I get a tissue please? I got a little uhhh on my face," I say, gesturing to my face and Melissa nods and gets some kitchen roll and hands it to me, I dry my face and blew my nose.

"So... What... Why did that happen..?" Zack asks, not really understanding, I just shrug, I remember feeling scared, I was scared that they would get in trouble and come after us again, I was scared of begin hunted, I was scared that I would have to see Bradley hurt again...

"I... I don't know... I guess I was just worried that if they got in trouble, they would know it was me and come after me and Bradley..." I say, trying to put it simply.

"Oh Milo... If we get them in trouble then they won't be able to hurt you or Bradley ever again..." my mom says and I look up at her, still sniffling and my eyes still burning, there was a knot in my stomach, I felt terrible.

"Okay.." I say, my body felt exhausted, my frown dragged me down, I picked up my phone from the ground, I remembered that Bradley was still on call, I put my back to my friends and family and put the phone to my ear.

"Hey Bradley, you still there..?" I ask, it was obvious that I had been crying, you could hear it in my voice, I hated it because I didn't want to him to worry about me, I hear shuffling before I hear his voice on the other side.

"Oh um, yeah, I'm still here, what's going on? I heard like crying and a scream, I got worried..." he says and I frown more, no use in hiding it then...

"Oh, yeah, everything's fine, I just kind of panicked a bit as like my parents were going to get those cool kids in trouble for what they did," I say and Bradley makes a sound of confusion before I explain, "Well like, they could come after us again,"

"Oh... Oh okay yeah, I get that... So, wait, your parents are going to the police?" He asks and I made a sound of agreement, "I see... That's um... cool..."

"Bradley? Is everything okay..?" I ask and he didn't say anything for a while, like he was thinking.

"Yeah... Yeah, everything's fine, just- Can you make sure that they don't mention me, please..?" He asks and I pause for a moment, I kind of knew why, if his parents knew that he had sneaked out, I don't even want to think about it...

"I... Okay, I will try..." I mutter, looking down at the floor, I hear people moving behind me so I walk into the living room and sit down on the couch.

"Thanks... So did your mom say I could come over?" He asks and I suddenly remember the reason why I went into that kitchen for the first place and I smile slightly.

"Oh yeah.. Yeah, she did! So, you can come over whenever you like," I say and I could feel myself getting better, twiddling a couple strands of my hair with my free hand, with a grin on my face.

"Cool, yeah, I'm coming over now," he says and I could hear a door creaking open and steps on wooden ground but then I heard the rattling of a door handle, "Dammit! My parents locked the door, guess I'm going through the window,"

"What? Isn't that dangerous?" I ask, I was on the end of my seat, I could hear the own concern in my voice as I hear more walking and a window opening.

"No, it's perfectly safe... Well, I mean it is a struggle to get back in but it isn't far of a drop, I've done this before, it'll be fine," he says and my worries ease off a bit but that thought still stuck with me.

"Okay... Wait, why have you climbed out of a window before?" I ask, tilting my head slightly in confusion, I hear footsteps on my side and I look over and see my friends walking to me and I smiled at them before they sat down.

"I've been grounded before once, you don't know all about the stuff I do," he says and we both chuckle, I see Melissa look at me with a smirk, I blush slightly and looked away from them, Sara sat down on the couch too, watching the TV.

"Wow, so mysterious," I say in a jokey way, he laughs, my parents come into the room and sit on the other couch, I put my knees to my chest on the couch and smile more to the voice on the other side of my phone.

"Yeah, anyway, I've kind of got to put you in my pocket for a second while I get out of the house," he says and I muttered an 'okay' before I heard a thud on the ground on his side an shuffling, his voice came back.

"Hey, so, my memory is nearly perfect but you're house is the first one on Clover Road, right?" He asks and I could hear him start to walk on the stone of the pavement, he adds, "Alright, I'd better end this call before I get distracted and get run over,"

"Oh yeah, sorry for keeping you, you can hang up now!" I say and I hear him chuckling slightly and I smile wider, my cheeks blushing slightly.

"Alright, I'll see you soon, love you," he says and my eyes widened and I blushed brightly, I was about to say something but then I looked around at the people in the room and frowned.

"Bradley, I'm in a room full of people, I can say it back right now but you too," I say and there was a pause on the other side.

"Oh, yeah, of course, sorry, I shouldn't of... Bye," he says and he hanged up, I pulled the phone off my ear and looked down at it, I frowned, I wondered what all that was about..

"So, is Bradley okay?" Melissa asks, a slight smile on her face as she rests her hand on her arm on the armrest of the couch and I continued to look at my phone.

"Oh yeah, he sounded a bit sad at the beginning though but he seemed a lot happier when we didn't talk about what happened," I say and I could feel her frown without even looking, so Zack chirps in.

"Well, at least he's okay, right?" He says but he was looking at Melissa, not as friendly as his voice, I tilted my head in confusion as I looked at them, I didn't understand why they were both so angry.

"... Anyway, mom, would you mind if you didn't mention Bradley when you go to the police, he was grounded when we went out and if his parents found out then they'd probably... do something..." I say, stopping myself before I said too much, my mom gave me an odd look.

"Well, I mean I guess I could try but I might have to mention him..." she says and I gulp, biting my lip as a look of deep worry was sealed on my face but then I hear Melissa say.

"What can his parents do anyway? Ground him again?" She says, confused, I look at her with furrowed brows before I started to do a signal with my hands, punching my palm with my fists gently, she looked at it before going, "Oh. Oh god."

"So yeah, anyway, I just didn't want Bradley to get in trouble, his parents are kind of strict," I say to my mom who luckily didn't see the signal, Melissa and Zack were frowning, slightly horrified, I frowned too just thinking about it.

"Alright then, I will try my hardest but you can never know what will happen, sorry dear," she says and I stand up, looking away from them all as I nervously scratched the back of my neck.

"O-Oh yeah... it's fine," I say, forcing a small smile, I didn't mean to stutter and I was afraid that I gave away the fact that something was wrong, before anyone could speak though, there was a knock on the door. 

"I'll get it!" I yell as I run to the door, knowing who it was and flung the door open to see Bradley, I immediately hugged him tightly, Bradley flinched in surprise before calming down, I then whispered, "I love you too..."

"Hey Bradley," Melissa says, sort of laughing it out, as she leans on the door frame, I presume that Zack was there too but I was still hugging Bradley, my back to them, Bradley waved at them nervously.

"Um, hey guys," he says nervously but still chuckles as he looks down at me, I chuckle too as I nuzzle his neck, a big smile on my face but also a bright blush on my cheeks, I eventually let him go, he was blushing even brighter than me.

"Heh, hey Milo," he chuckles out, scratching the back of his neck, Melissa and Zack join me by my side, I grin widely but then he said, "Have you been crying.?" 

"Oh yeah, like I said, I kind of panicked a bit but I thought it would of died so am by now," I say, looking to the side as I put my hand to my face, I could feel his frown but then Zack chirps in.

"Anyway, me and Melissa better get going, you guys have fun," he says and I look at them as they walked past me, Bradley waved them away and they waved back.

"Thanks for checking up on me! Bye!" I say, waving frantically, Bradley chuckles at me and they leave, I look at him with a smile before saying, "So, should we go inside?"

"Oh yeah, sure," he says and we walk inside, Sara was still sat on the couch on her phone while my parents were talking again, my mom stops and look at us, my dad does the same.

"Hey Bradley, it's nice to see you again, well and okay, after you know what," she says and Bradley frowns and looks to the ground, Sara looks up from her phone and looks at Bradley.

"Um hey Mrs Murphy, It's good to see you too," he says, muttering slightly, I've never seen him this shy, he's not normally a shy person especially with other kids but I guess with parents he's different,

"Well make yourself at home, me and Martin were just about to head out do Sara is in charge when we're gone," My mom says and I nod, Sara was looking at Bradley and I looked over at him to see how he has noticed was getting uneasy.

"Alright, see you later guys!" I say as my mom grabs her bag and they walk out of the door, the house was now really quiet, I hated it, I grabbed hold of Bradley's hand gently and started to walk to my room but then Sara called me.

"Milo, can I talk to you for a moment?" She asks and I let go of Bradley's hand and looked at her, Bradley did too, she stood up, she looked sad but serious so I decided it was best to listen.

"Okay, sure! Bradley, you just wait in my room, I'll be right there," I say, pointing to my room upstairs with a smile and he does what he was told, when the door closes, I turned back to her, "So what's going on...?"

"Well, yesterday, when we were helping Bradley, mom tried to lift up his sleeve in case there were any cuts there or something but he kind of panicked and didn't let her... I think he might... hurt himself," she says and I frown, my eyes widening.

"Is he still doing it?" I asked and I couldn't stop myself, I was just so worried, Sara looked at me confused and I realized my mistake as she says.

"You know that he used to do it...?" She asks and I nod, looking down at the ground, forgetting that not everyone knows what I do, I frowned more.

"Yeah, it's kind of the reason why we're together" Sara looked more confused, "It's complicated, anyway, I found out by accident but he stopped, he promised that he would, I'm sure that it was just a reflex... I hope,"

"I see... Well, I just wanted to let you know as that is your boyfriend and all, I was worried," she says and I nod, I bit my lip, god I hope that he wasn't doing it all again.

"Yeah, thanks for telling me... I think I might have to ask him about it, I'm worried about him too..." I say and Sara frowns, I turn away from her as I walk into my room to see Bradley up on my bed, stroking Diogee, who had sneaked in my room and had fallen asleep.

"I didn't know you had a dog," Bradley says and I chuckle and nod before climbing up onto my bed with him, shooing Diogee away.

"Diogee! Get off the bed! He's not allowed up here," I say and he watches as the dog jumps off the bed and waddles out of the door, I then instantly ask, "Do you have any pets?"

"Um yeah, I do, a black cat, his name is Gizmo, he's only a kitten but I have to look after most of time," he says and I smile wider but then he adds, "Also, who named your dog? Isn't Diogee just D-O-G spelled out?"

"Yeah, it's a funny name right, me and Sara actually named him together, we got him when he was puppy, we were still pretty young back then," I say and Bradley looks down at his lap, he was sat cross-legged, I looked at him and smiled more, I wasn't sure why, I just did.

"Huh, I just got Gizmo a year ago, he's a was a stray, when I found him, we was very skinny and hurt, my parents didn't like the idea of having him but as people were saying how good it was to have a rescue cat, they let me keep him," he says, smiling slightly and I smiled wider.

"I knew you weren't as heartless as people say you are," I say and Bradley looks at me suddenly with wide eyes.

"Wait what." He says.

"Anyway, I find it so cute that you have a rescue cat, that was very nice of you," I say, Bradley seemed urgent.

"I guess but I couldn't just leave it there, and who, who's saying I'm heartless?" He says, I chuckle.

"True, but there are people who would leave animals in states like that, it's a shame..." I say and Bradley put his hand on my shoulder and makes me look at him.

"Milo, who the hell is saying that I'm heartless?" Bradley practically growls out and I ushered to explain myself.

"Nobody, nobody Bradley, just some people believe that you can be a bit mean sometimes, I'm saying that I think that but I guess you can be salty sometimes," I say and he pauses before letting me go.

"Oh okay... Well, God Milo, should of told me that instead of avoiding my question," he says, his tone of voice was annoyed but he didn't look mad, he looked kind of sad, I stopped smiling and frowned as I look away.

"Yeah, sorry..." I say, I heard Bradley sigh and my frown deepens, I made a mistake but I didn't think that Bradley would take it the wrong way.

"Look Milo, I can be snappy at times, I just... Ugh, I can't explain well, I'm just sorry, I know you didn't mean it and you struggle with understanding some things, so do I surprisingly," he says and I look up at him and smile slightly, I shuffle closer to him.

"It's fine Bradley, I couldn't stay mad at you even if I tried," I said and started to smile again, it was surprising how fast my mood can change, I get closer to Bradley and boop ours noses together, with sound effects. 

"Oh my god, you're so cute, I don't deserve someone like you Milo," he says, chuckling slightly as he hides his face in his hands but I knew he was smiling back, a blushing beginning to grow on his cheeks.

"Haha, of course you do," I say and place a hand of his shoulder, he flinched, I stopped and he looked at me, I furrowed my eyebrows before saying, "Bradley...? Can I see your shoulder for a minute...?"

"No." He says with such urgency and with a cold, stern tone as he backs away from me on the bed, I move closer, I try to tug his sleeves up but he fights back, I end up having to straddle him.

"Bradley, please just show me!" I say as I stopped, huffing out breaths, Bradley does the same, he looks at our position and blushed, I blushed too but didn't move.

"I... I don't want to..." he mutters and I frown, he looks up at me but looks away, I sigh, there was silence as I thought of what I could say, I didn't want to say the wrong thing and mess all this up.

"Bradley... I just.... I want you to be safe, so I need to know if are okay, I need to know what I can do to help because all I want is for you to be honest with me and be okay, I just want you to be happy," I say as Bradley bits his lip.

"I... But I promised to not do it again and I... I'm so sorry, I I didn't want you to find out, I just..." he trails off and I sigh again but lifting him to sit up so we were face to face.

"Bradley, I don't care about the promise... Just please let me see," I say and he blushed madly at the closeness before sighing in defeat as he started to unbutton his shirt, he was wear an tank top underneath, I could see them now.

Most of the cuts there were so faint abs old but there were new ones, red and scabs covered them, I gasped silently before tracing my fingers along them, doing my best not to hurt him. I wondered when this had happened, think about what I was doing then without knowing, I pondered if I could of stopped this. I sigh and look at Bradley, he was looking away from me, like he was ashamed. I put my hand under his chin and made him look at me, he anxiously waited for me to say something, I could see the thoughts run through his head. I sighed again before giving him a kiss on the forehead.

"I love you Bradley, I don't like to see you like this, I know it's like a coping thing but it's really unhealthy and I'm just worried of if you... c-cut too deep o-or want to die and I-I just don't know what to do!" I say, my eyes watering as I raise my voice, Bradley flinched.

"... I'm sorry... I know that you care about me, I just don't know why, I don't really see this as bad as you do, I guess I'm just used to... At least I don't want to die and I'm not going to die, this was just a one time thing, I promise that I'll stop this time..." Bradley says and I frown.

"...I just don't understand... I don't know why you do this... I'll try though, I'll try to get better, I want to help you and I'll do anything to get you better and happier," I say, determination flowing through me, Bradley got a hold of my hand.

"Thank you... I don't deserve you, I don't think anyone does, you'll go all this way to help me, actually deal with me for so long and still go out the other end with a grin on your face, I don't know how you do it, survive to be with a burden like me," He says, squeezing my hand tighter.

"..The reason why I smile is because every second I'm with you, I'm so much happier than I'm normally and you make me feel so loved, I've never been in a relationship before and I've always wondered what it's like but it's so much better then I thought it would be," I say.

"I love you Milo Murphy, you adorable dork," he says, chuckling, a blush spreading on his cheeks and he nuzzles our noses together and I chuckle too, we both had big smiles on our faces.

"I love you too, Bradley Nicholson, my cute little nerd," I say, kissing his cheek, wrapping my arms around his neck and he places his hands on my sides.

Bradley laughs before realizing and saying, "Hey! I'm not little!" I laugh louder, he huffed and crossed his arms.

"Says the smallest person of the whole class and maybe whole of 7th Grade," I say and he huffed more, I couldn't control my laughter and he got more annoyed.

"Shut up!" He yells but had a growing smirk on his lips and gently pushes me backwards, I laugh louder and he begins to chuckle.

We laugh as we interlocked hands, I laughed longer as Bradley looked down at our hands, he was still smiling. When the laughter eventually stopped, Bradley looked up and we locked eyes. He chuckle nervously before leaning closer to each other, our lips touch and I melt in the kiss, letting go of his hands to go back around his waist and he does the same but around my neck. I tilt my head to deepen the kiss while he has to let one hand away from my neck to support him as I lean too forward and he starts go down back on the bed. His arm gives way and we escape the kiss, red-faced and panting as he fell on the bed, my hands moving to the side of him. I looked down at him and he blushed brighter and I did too, if that was even possible, 

I was straddling him like before. I lean closer down to him and he leans himself back up, our lips touch again and we get back to where we left it. But then I chuckle in the kiss, we part away and Bradley looks at me with a confused look, I start laughing.

"Sorry, I just, I'm just getting a bit nervous," I say, looking away and chuckled again nervously, Bradley sits up as I get off him.

"Why are you getting nervous..?" He asks, tilting his head slightly in confusion, I scratch the back of my neck nervously, a weak yet small smile on my lips.

"I'm... I'm not sure, I just don't want to kiss again right now," I say, shrugging, I don't know what happened, I just got nervous about going far again like in the hospital, Bradley nodded.

"Yeah... Wanna just cuddle and talk.?" He asks as he buttons his shirt back up from having shown me his cuts, they went from my view and I felt better, I made a sound of agreement.

We got into a position we liked, Bradley was on top of me, his head on my chest, we were laying on the bed, I had a hand around him and my other arm holding my phone as we both swiped through social media. I smiled as I looked down at him, I want to help him so much, I want to be there for him so badly, and it kind of hurts when I can't but I don't care anymore, I just want him to be happy...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nearly 800 words more than normal because I could be bothered to cut it out and add it to the next chapter :P)


	12. Extra Dialogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter is taking longer than I would have wanted it to so have some of last chapter that didn't make it because it was too long :P

Bradley's POV

"What's stimming?" I say, I was on an article about autism, I wasn't very educated on the subject as they never really taught it at school so the only information I've gotten was from Milo, I wanted to help him and I also wanted to understand the things he couldn't explain.

"Stimming? Well, it's like um... I can't really explain it but..." Milo struggles to explain until getting off his bed and started to rummage through his bag, he pulled out his fidget box,

"There is like, different kinds of stimming, the only ones I can name of the stop of my head is stimming where you use an object like this to stim," he says, holding the fidget box up before started talking again, 

"There is also weighted stimming, rocking, flapping hands, bouncing, jumping, or twirling, pacing or walking on tiptoes, I think, rearranging objects, oral stimmin-" he was listing them off, counting on his hands before I stopped him.

"Wait- Oral stimming did you say?" I ask, looking confused and slightly grossed out, Milo stops and looks at down at me before his eyes widen and he hurried to explain.

"It's not as dirty as it sounds! It's actually just like chewing and stuff like that, I don't personally do it, I just do rocking, twirling and I flap my hands when I'm excited sometimes, some stims can calm you down and some is when you're bored ," he says and I was slightly relieved but a thought entered my mind.

"So, how do you flap your hands exactly?" I ask, sitting up and looked at him, tilting my head slightly to the side in annoyed confusion, Milo just grinned slightly as he sat up as well.

"Well... You just do it like this," he says before starting to flap his hands, it was hard to describe what it looked like but it looked cool, it was making this weird sound too.

"Oh. So like this?" I ask, doing the same movement he had been doing, I started to giggle have way through doing it, it felt weird.

"Yeah!" Milo says with a massive toothy grin as we both laugh, it was weird how much that felt okay, natural even but I dare to think about what it meant.

"Anyway, it's not just something that autistic people do, some people who don't have autism also do it, they do it for different reasons though and different ways, I also think that there are some bad stims like head banging and scratching skin, there can hurt," he says.

"Why the sudden question about stimming, anyway?" He asks and I look up at him, feeling myself getting nervous throughout my body as I tried to think and say something without offending him.

"Well... I stumbled on this article on autism and stimming came up a few times and I was wondering what it was so I was just asking if you knew what it was," I say, shrugging slightly as I looked away.

"How do accidentally stumble on an article on autism? It's kind of hard to find them that are actually good unless you search it up," he points out and I was about to lie again but I just sigh and say.

"Okay, I was searching for autism, I know nothing about it, for all I know, I could be autistic, also there are things you so that I need to understand so..." I shrug and Milo was quiet for a while, I was worried that I can messed up but then he said.

"That's... Actually kind of sweet," Milo chuckles, I looked up at him, he was smiling as he looked at the thin air in front of him, facing away from me, thinking.

"Really?" I ask, sitting up and gave him a confused look, he stopped smiling, I hated that, why did I ask that..?

"I don't know, nobody has openly done that so... Language is confusing and way over-analysed," he says, shrugging, smiling again and I chuckle and say.

"Agreed."

"...Bradley...?" Milo says, something on his mind.

"Yeah...?" I ask, tilting my head to the side as worry fills me with thoughts but I don't show it.

"Can I try on your glasses?" He laughs out, I was a bit taken back but chuckle anyway, I worry too much.

"Why do you want to try on my glasses?" I say, Milo shrugged and I chuckle before Milo takes off my glasses and I think puts them on.

"How do I look?" He asks and I squint my eyes, my vision was pretty bad, it was very blurry that I barely made out Milo's outline.

"I have literally no idea," I say kind of bitterly as I try and squint harder, making out Milo's grin but I could already hear Milo's laugh.

"I can't see anything either, you're so blind," he says and he takes off the glasses and places them in my hands.

"That's kind of why I need glasses, Milo," I say as I was about to put my glasses back on when Milo put his fingers under my chin and made me look up, he chuckles.

"You look weird without glasses," he says and we both chuckle, my laugh more nervous as I slide my glasses back on, now able to see Milo and his cute little smile. 

"Wow. Thanks," I say bitterly before chuckling and Milo laughs, we were both in such a giddy mood, I had no idea why, human emotions were a complex thing.

I get back and close to him again and place my head on his shoulder, burying my face in his neck. My glasses were obviously getting in the way so I discarded them to the side, not caring if I couldn't see. Milo laughed and we lay back down, my head on his chest, my arms wrapped around his torso, Milo's arms around my waist, I could hear his heartbeat, feel his warmth, I didn't want to move. I don't think any sane person would.


	13. Coming out

Bradley's POV

Me and Milo talked about this and that, we ended up laughing a lot and my jaw hurt but I didn't mention it and tried my best to ignore it. I lay on his chest, my glasses had been discarded to the side, his sweater was comfy surprisingly despite the body armour he wears underneath. I started to think about how it was weird, I'm not talking about the comfy body armour either, I mean how about a month ago, I despised Milo, I was so jealous of him and I never talked to him and now I was dating him and sharing all my deepest secrets with him, wishing I could be there for him all the time. I had actually started to grow a crush on him before he had found out about my cuts, it was only small, just the slight thought about him more than often, I didn't think about it much. 

I had always thought that I had a crush on Melissa because my vision of love was thinking that someone was cute or cool, and to be honest, who didn't find Melissa at least a bit cute and cool, but I find that it's so much more then that, having a crush was not begin able to look at them without blushing, a crush was thinking about that one person all day and just thinking about them makes you smile. I always found it weird that out of everyone I could fall in love with, I fell in love with Milo, the one person I thought I could never be with, the one person who everyone thought I hated. My crush wasn't much at first but it quickly grew, I didn't tell anyone because I thought it would just blow over but before I knew it, I had kissed Milo. I had no idea why I did it but I never believed that Milo would kiss me back. 

I wonder how long Milo has felt this way about me, the same way I felt about him.. I sigh quietly, I was so tired, my body was still a bit sore from everything that's gone on and I was just kind of, drained, emotionally and physically, I think it's just everything catching up to me finally. I could of fell asleep tight then and there on Milo but I didn't, the nagging fear of begin annoying or clingy or just plain weird was in the back of head and it kept me awake. I wondered how long this will last, when this young teenage love with die and we will go our separate ways, it will happen, even if it doesn't seem that way now, it always happens when you're young and in a relationship, especially when you're really young like how we were, how long will this keep on going? How long will he love me...? 

It seems so silly to think like this but I was always thinking about the future, I always liked begin one step ahead of everything, I liked knowing what I was going to do with my life. I wondered what it would be like after we break up, would we still be friends? Would it be awkward? Will we fight? Would Melissa and Zack still be friends with me? I try to stop, stop over-thinking but it was what I was great at. I clutch the sweater underneath me tightly as I scrunch up my face, not wanting to let go. I feel Milo's arms around me, I let out a shaky breath but don't say anything as I hug him back, I need to enjoy this while it lasts, no matter how long that is. Milo doesn't say anything either, he doesn't push me to speak, he just comforts me without any question. 

He was too good for me, I swear if I started to cry anywhere in the world, Milo would be crashing through a window to comfort me. I chuckle weakly at the thought of that and I could feel Milo's smile, he was too nice for me. I didn't want to move, I knew I had to go home soon but I didn't want move, not to eat or sleep or anything, I didn't want to go back there, I frown again, Milo was too sweet for me. I lift my hand to my eye, the one where my black eye remains, I should really cover it up with concealer or something. I start to wonder of when my parents would get back, later, I wondered of when Milo's parents would get back, maybe soon, I then remember what me and Milo talked about while in the park yesterday, I looked up at Milo, I wondered if he remembers too...

"Hey Milo...?" I mutter, I didn't realise I was going to be that quiet, it was barely audible but I was sure that Milo had heard me, so I add, "Do you remember our date when we went into the park..? Do you remember what we talked about...?"

Milo paused for too long, like he was thinking and I was worried that he hadn't actually heard me but then he says, "Yeah... We talked about coming out to my parents together, right?"

I nod, before saying, trying to look at him in the eye but check on looking away nervously, "Yeah... So, do you still want to go through with it? I mean, your parents are coming home soon right and it might be our chance.."

"I... Yeah, yeah! I want to do it! Are you sure that you're okay with this...? Are you really ready..? Because it's fine if you're not, we don't have to rush this," Milo says, smiling wise until asking, I pause and look down at my lap before nodding and smiling slightly.

"Yeah, I'm ready, I want to do this," I say, feeling confident but terrified at the same time, I don't try to show that to Milo but he reads me like an open book, he grabs my hands and gives them a slight squeeze.

"It'll be okay... I'm sure that my parents will be supportive, they're really cool with this stuff," Milo points out and it makes me feel a bit better and I can breath a bit easily, I pause before looking up at him and nodded.

"We can so this..." I mutter as I hold his hand back, smiling a bit, I was reassuring myself more than anything, I was having second thoughts, my mind was running with every what if question there was.

Then, we heard the door open, the jingling of keys and steps, they were open. I looked at Milo and sighed as we jumped off his bed, I took my hand away from his and I could feel my heart racing. I could hear his parents talking as I opened up Milo's bedroom door and we walked down the stairs, Sara was out of her room and now on the couch. As we walked down, I couldn't seem to breath, his parents were talking but I couldn't hear them as they were muttering. Milo cleared his throat and they turned to us, I held in a breath as they spoke.

"Oh! Hello boys, we're home earlier than expected, there was a problem with the car and we had to take it to the garage but we are sure to go to the police as soon as the car is fixed, is there something you need?" His mom explains, smiling sweetly.

"Actually, there is um something me and Bradley would like to say to both of you..." Milo says, even though he tried not to show, he was nervous too, he was like an open book but I guess so was I, I tried not to hide it though.

"Oh okay.." his mom, suddenly very concerned and curious as Milo made them sit down on the couch next to Sara, who was now looking up from her phone and looked confused about what was going on.

"Well... The thing is that... um... I-I..." Milo stumbled on his words, I could see him getting more nervous by the second, I decide to help out by grabbing his hand and giving it a squeeze before saying for him.

"Me and Milo are... dating," I say, it felt weird to say and it came out in a nervous tone and said quite quickly but I could see his parent's eyes widened slightly, almost in surprise before smiling, they were smiling..

"That's wonderful! I'm so glad you told us, I am so happy for you too," His mom said, it was all unreal, I guess despite the fact that they were likely to be supportive, I guess I just doubted myself that much, I saw Sara was grinning ear to ear as she looked at us.

"How long have you two been together?" His dad asks, they were pretty calm about the situation and I can see Milo thinking, it has been a while since we first began dating, it seemed so long ago, it seems pretty crazy how much we've been through.

"I'm not sure... maybe a month or two, how long ago were we in that bus crash?" Milo asks, looking at me, I just shrugged slightly, I was feeling a bit lightheaded right then, I couldn't think straight or even clearly, I'd say it was about a month and a half ago though..

"That long ago? I really do wish you would of told us sooner, I want to know that you can tell us anything," His father says and I bit my bottom lip, grabbing hold of Milo's hand tighter, he looked at me before answering for me, which I was glad because I couldn't seem to speak.

"We weren't ready, Bradley doesn't have that accepting parents and the school is very closed minded, for their age range and all, we were scared that they would find out, I guess.." Milo says, scratching the back of his neck nervously.

"Well, we accept you two all the way and don't you worry, we won't be telling everybody in town," his dad laughs out and Milo chuckles before smiling wide at me, I weakly smile back.

Then his parents stood up from the couch and brings us in a tight hug, Sara quickly stood up and joined the hug. I froze as I felt Milo hug them back, I could feel how happy all of them were but I couldn't seem to hug back, maybe I wasn't used to hugs, it was only Milo who gave them to me and that was only recently. I should be happy, they support us, everything is okay, so let aren't I happy? It seems that I can never be satisfied, there will always be a problem that stops me from begin truly happy. I sighed, this felt so nice though so I hug back, I was so tired. It was so warm and comfy in the hug, I felt so cold against them, they were happy, so why wasn't I? The hug disbanded and Milo grabs hold of my hand, grinning at me, I force out a smile for him.

But then I heard a buzzing from my phone, I pulled it out and it was my alarm I had set that was saying that my parents would be home soon, I didn't realise I had been here so long, time just slipped away. I look back at Milo, he was looking over my shoulder at my phone, he frowned. I look back at his family, smiled, and said.

"I better get back home, it's getting kind of late, my parents are kind of strict on curfew, thank you for letting me stay..." I say as I nervously scratch the back of my neck, I needed to hurry home, I need to get home before my parents do.

"It's no problem, you can come any time Bradley," his mother says, his dad nods in agreement, my foot gently tapped on the floor, one of my nervous tics, I smiled along still though.

"Thank you again, it was nice to see you again, I've really got to go now though, goodbye..." I say and put my phone back into my pocket and Milo and his family wave me goodbye as I leave, they were perfect family, exception of Murphy's Law.

As soon as the door closed to their house, I began to run full speed, I had to get there before them. The sky was an orangey red as the sun set with a few clouds in the sky, autumn meant that the days got shorter until by winter it's dark at 3pm. When I got to the house, my heart stopped, my parent's car was in the driveway. I tried to remember if that car was there when I left and they took the other car but my head was so cloudy yet full of racing thoughts and I was out of breath from running, my heart was racing, I was panicking. I go to the front door and was about to take out my keys but the door was already unlocked, meaning that my parents were home. I tried to think of a solution, then I remembered, the window. I go to the side of the house, I could see the window to my room. 

I had used it to get out of the house as my parents had locked my bedroom door while they were gone, not sure why though. I stack the bin up under the window and I began to climb on top of it before sliding the window open and quietly creeping into my room. I couldn't hear a sound in the room, it was dead silent. I close the window, my heart was going haywire, I was so petrified to the thought that they knew I was gone. I was shaking, I was sweating, but I kept on going. I looked at the door, it was unlocked, they had checked the room and saw me not there, they definitely know, I was so dead... I open the door slightly, it made an awful creaking sounding, I winced before deciding to leave the door alone to not make anymore sound. 

I could hear my own heartbeat, there was a ringing in my ear, my head was pounding, I was getting slightly light headed so I decided to sit down on my bed to regain balance and try to relax. Maybe if I pretend to be asleep then they will leave me alone and then avoid them until I am old enough so I can move out. I was about to lay down and try to calm myself down when I heard the door creak open. I look over and see my mother standing in the doorway, her arm crossed and a pissed off look on her face. My eyes widened and I tense up but then she walks over to me and grabs my wrist and begins to drag me painfully out of my room, her grip tight which made me wince in pain but she didn't let go or loosen her grip, she just said in a 'you messed up' tone.

"You've got a lot to explain mister," she had venom in her voice, I look down at my feet as she drags me to where my father was standing tall in the living room, his stare cold, his face enraged.

She lets go of me finally and I examine my now reddening wrist, it stringed painfully, a handprint on my skin. I couldn't bare to look up at them, I already knew what was coming. I hear my mother walk over to my father's side, he was much bigger then her. They were both business people, they worked at the same workplace and they are very important people, I'm not sure what they actually do as a living, it's all mumbo jumbo to me but I know that they get paid loads. They must of gotten home early but not must of been home much as they were still in their work clothes. I looked up, cautiously, at them, they were staring done at me, I felt like I was begin interrogated, I felt trapped. The house was silent, it almost hurt my head when they started to talk.

"Where were you?" My father said, he sounded so stern and direct, his body was tensed, I lost my voice inside my throat, I couldn't answer but then I felt a sharp pain in my cheek, my mom had slapped me.

"Answer when you are spoke to," she says, rage in her tone of voice but she tried to remain calm, I put my hand over my stinging cheek, wincing before quickly saying.

"I was at a friend's house," I say, making sure not to mumble or raise my voice, looking in her eyes, I could feel my eyes water but I didn't let tears flow, my mom scoffed.

"Which friend?" She says, and I began to quickly think, I couldn't say Milo, they really don't like his family curse, so I quickly began to say.

"Mort, from school..." It was the first person I could think of but I was pretty sure that my parents bought it, which was a relief.

"And do you remember us telling you that you are grounded, which means you are strictly forbidden from leaving his house, especially sneaking out of the house!" She says, getting closer to me as her voice raised higher and higher.

"Yes..." I mumble, I knew they hated it when I mumbled but I couldn't help it as I look down at the ground, tensing my body up and I prepare for what I knew was coming.

"So tell me Why!... Why did you leave this house?" She says, yelling out as her fists clench up before she clears her throat and her face softens before she talks again, sternly.

Why did I go? I mean, there was no reason to go. I knew there was a chance this would happen too. But I went anyway, I'm not sure why... Maybe it was because I needed a break from the house, maybe I just wanted to see Milo and see that he was safe and okay after everything, now that I remember, I didn't give Milo a reason to come over but he let me anyway. I knew I had to give them an answer and fast, my mind was cloudy, I couldn't speak, if I tried it would be I would be stuttering and muttering. I couldn't think of anything so my other cheek started to sting madly as I got slapped by my mom again. I breath in sharply and hold in a whimper. I looked down to the ground and as I hear my mother sigh in annoyance.

"I can't deal with this right now.. You take care of him," My mother says, her head in her hands before frowning and turning to my father who had been silent for this whole time, my mother then walks off, her high heels making her every step loud on the floor.

I gulp as I look up at my dad, more fear filling me as my father looms over me, he was stronger then my mom, he knew how to discipline kids, and I mean by that is he knows how to make his kids afraid of him or to do anything wrong for the rest of theirs by hurting them. I knew this time that I had messed up badly...

-

Half an hour had past, maybe only a minute, maybe a whole day, I wasn't sure anymore not that I cared anyway. I was locked in my room with watering eyes, stinging cheeks, a new bruise on my jawline and other new bruises on my body, which were hidden by my clothes. My windows were now locked with a lock that only my parents had the key to and my phone and any other sort of connection to the outside world had been taken away from me. I lay on my bed, looking at the ceiling above me. I didn't feel anything, I knew there was pain in the parts of my body that had been beaten and hurt but I just felt numb. I was so tired, I didn't see a reason to do anything, it seemed I would never be enough to anyone anyway, so why should I bother?

I was holding my blade from my sharpener in my hand, my sleeves rolled up to my shoulder blade, lines scaring my shoulder and upper arm, which were barely healed from the last time I felt horrible. I didn't care anymore if Milo found out, he was going to leave me anyway, I don't know why he believed I could do anything at all... I sighed, then my body started to shake as my eyes watered more, I tried to stop myself, I didn't want to do this, I was such a crybaby, I've cried too many times over the short amount of time... But it was too late, tears were trailing down my cheeks and off my face as my breath gets shaky and scarce, I didn't want to be alive but I think that was a bit of an understatement, I could write a novel on how I'm feeling and how toxic my mind is right now. I'm just so tired...


	14. The Argument Part 1

Milo's POV

I must say that the rest of my weekend was not calming as I haven't been in contact with Bradley since he left my house on Saturday, he hasn't talked to anyone else either, he hasn't even Seen my messages, it's like he disappeared. Which lead to multiple hour long calls with Melissa and Zack of me just venting and ranting nervously of all the possible things that could be wrong and them unsuccessful trying to calm me down. Of course that means that I have been anxious all Sunday and I was even eager to get to school the next day just to see if Bradley was there. Maybe I was just begin paranoid, but maybe it started to rain he got struck by lightning when he was walking to his house and the electricity got to the water underneath him and paralyzed him and then a car-!

I was interrupted by my thoughts when Melissa started jabbing my cheek with a pencil she was holding. I swatted her pencil away and looked at her but she wasn't even looking at me, I followed her stare and saw Bradley. I nearly jumped out of my seat on the moving bus to greet him while also asking him a billion questions at the same time, my heart jumped in joy though. His black eye was gone, so were other bruises on his visible skin, it was clear where he had used foundation on himself because it was slightly the wrong shade to his skin tone but he'd have to be staring at him for you to notice, like how I was. Bradley, very hesitantly, sat down next to me, I waved to him, a big ass smile on my face, he looked a bit... on the edge so I decided to ease in on the questions instead of just bombarding them on him. 

Melissa looks at me from the corner of her eye, I look back at her like we were having a silent conversation between our eyes. Who should make the first move? I look back at Bradley, he was staring down at his lap, his backpack on the ground by his seat as his finger taps in a rhythm on his seat. His expression through his dark hair was screaming a whole 'I've got a secret and I'm trying to hide it but I know it's not working' vibe. It must be a good secret too because he looks so terrified and nervous at the same exact time, a frown sealed on his lips. I take a silent breath in before turning my body to face him, he looked up slightly at me, his lips twitching up to a small smile, clearly forced though, it was like he feels like he had to be happy around me. I try not to overthink it too much as I grin and began to say.

"So...? What did you do this Sunday?" I tried not to sound desperate questions as Bradley pauses, looking up at me with guilty eyes before looking away to nothing and responding with.

"Nothing much..." Muttering, he wasn't lying but I knew he was trying to hide something which made me worry more, especially now that I can see that where the foundation was on his face, a large portion was on his eye and on his jawline...

"Huh... So, I'm guessing you just didn't see my messages then...?" I ask, trying to press on him on the matter, I could see him fidget in his space, nervously biting his bottom lip.

"U-Um... Yeah, sorry, I didn't see them..." He says but I knew he was lying, his voice went up a bit higher than his normal voice and he refused to look at me in the eye.

"Bradley..." I say in a tone that was direct but calm, he didn't respond, I sigh, he can be so hard to read sometimes, I look back at Melissa and Zack who were watching from the background in awe.

I wanted to say something to pick up a conversation but I didn't know how without it seeming like I was talking behind Bradley's back, it wasn't long before we got to school anyway. I was mad, only a bit though, mostly at Bradley, he made me so scared and doesn't give a reason why he hadn't respond to me. But I guess it was only a day, maybe I was begin too clingy, too possessive and he needed a break from me. I immediately felt bad, it felt like a weight on my back, I don't even know if Bradley would tell me if I was begin too much. I mean, I've never been in a relationship before, especially not a proper one, so I have no idea how to respond to when this happens. But I should have known better than to go crazy for him not responding to me for a day...

When the bus came to a stop at the school, I grabbed my backpack before putting it on and quickly grabbing Bradley's wrist when he had barely had stood up or grabbed his own bag and started to drag him out of the bus. I could hear him talking to me to stop or something along those lines but I kept on walking into we were in the school building. He tried to get my grasp off his wrist but I just held on tighter, I was stronger than him anyway. I dragged him into the boy's bathroom, the one that no one uses so it was empty, and finally let him go, I heard him wince and I turned around and saw him gently grasping his wrist, a red patch growing there and I immediately felt guilty. I took my backpack off and placed it on the sink counter and went to him. He looked up at me and I frowned as I held his wrist gently, he flinched.

"Sorry... I didn't mean to hurt you..." I mutter, looking down at it, he didn't pull away but it was clear he was uncomfortable with this, pausing before responding in a monotone voice.

"It's fine..." He was hiding something again, either his real feelings or something related to something else I had no clue, I sighed and looked away from him before he added, "So why did you drag me into the bathroom anyway...?"

"Well... I know you probably won't talk to me about why you are wearing foundation in the first place but I noticed you are using the slightly wrong shade to your actual skin color," I point out and Bradley frowns and brings his hand up to his jawline where most of the foundation was, but then I add, "So I wanted to help so other people don't notice,"

"Oh... Thanks," He smiles slightly before quickly frowning again but I didn't mind, I began to rummage through my backpack and pull out some foundation of my own and some wipes.

"So I was thinking if I put mine and your foundation together, then it should probably match your skin than the one you are using now," I explain and he nods and takes out his from his backpack before looking at me, seeming quite confused.

"Wait... Why do you have foundation...?" He questions before giving me his and I just chuckle, looking away from him, not giving him an answer for a while as I place both of the foundations on the counter that my bag was on.

"I've got a lot more scars than the ones I show, mainly because some of the scars are a bit ugly and in places which I can't hide them any other way..." I say as I take out a makeup wipe and began to wipe off the mess Bradley had made on his own face.

"Really...? Can I... Can I see them?" He urges, taking off his glasses so I could get the foundation off his eye, his black eye and some news bruises began to show, I frown but don't ask him about him as I know I wouldn't get an answer and just make him upset.

"They're a bit gross-looking though... I don't want to freak you out or anything," I state as I finish wiping away his foundation and began to mixing our foundations together.

"You have no idea what I've been through, I've seen some pretty gross stuff, Milo," He speaks with a bit of sass in his voice before adding, "Wait- won't mixing them together destroy your foundation?"

"Maybe, but don't worry, I've got way more at my house and a backup in my backpack in case the other one goes missing, runs out, or breaks" I say as began to try to cover up his bruise first, I can feel him stiffen when I touched it but doesn't say anything about it.

"First off, how big is this scar that you need so much to cover it up and secondly, how much foundation do you have stored away...?" He asks, looking at me, confused, and I just chuckle again as I move onto his black eye, which wasn't swollen anymore luckily.

"Close your eyes. I've got a Lot. I've always got lots of everything, you know, for just in case, I once had three hedge trimmers in my bag in case I needed one and the other two broke," I say, beginning to cover up the discoloration in his skin.

"You keep on dodging my questions about your scar. Can I at least get a clue about where it is?" He asks, his eyes closed and I had to hold his chin to stop him from moving.

"Stop fidgeting. And if you really want to see it, you would have to wait for me to get my foundation back on, it will be a close call for class," I note, he bites his lip like he was thinking as I finished up his skin, none of his bruises were visible, he opened his eyes and looked at me.

"It's fine, we can just run, I think seeing this will be worth it," he says before looking in the mirror, his eyes widened, he seemed impressed, "You sure are good at this stuff,"

"Aw, thanks! Anyway, I guess if I quickly do this, if you are that desperate to see them, we'll have time to get to class" I chuckle as I take out a clean wipe from my bag, Bradley fiddled with his thumbs.

"Not so much desperation, it's more curiosity than anything," he mumbles, he looks down in slight embarrassment, I just chuckle again, getting nervous now as I have no idea what his reaction would be, I don't know if it will be bad or good.

"Alright, alright... Close your eyes, if you want to, it would be more of a surprise then," I say and he nodded, closing his brown eyes shut and I began to drag the wipe over the area where my foundation was to clean it off, feeling a bit insecure.

"What do we even have next?" He asks as he placed his hands on his eyes and under his glasses, I wonder myself before remember and saying in reply

"Pretty sure we have music upstairs, think it's going be another supply," I see the skin tone color foundation start to appear on the wipe, I take a sneaky look in the mirror and I frown but don't let my tone of voice appear nervous.

"Again? I swear Mr West has just ditched us," Bradley scoffs, I see the deepening frown on his face, I just chuckle and make a sound of agreement as he couldn't see me nodding, taking off the last of my foundation.

"Alright! You can open your eyes now!" I say and Bradley instantly opens his eyes to see the deep, jagged scar diagonally on my face and covered nearly a fourth of my face, I didn't really like looking at it and I don't like people staring at it.

"Oh wow, that's um..." Bradley murmured, his eyes widening, it's still so noticeable after all the years after I got it, my smile flattens dramatically, he noticed, "Wait- I didn't mean to-"

"No... It's fine, trust me, I've had worse responses," I simply respond with, not wanting him to feel too bad, I try to smile again and try and lighten the mood by saying, "Wanna know how I got it?"

"I mean- Yeah sure I guess, but Milo-"

"Well I was around 4 or maybe 5 when it happened, it was only me and my sister in the house at the time because my parents had to go do something, can't remember what, Sara was making me some food when, me being the clumsy, unbalanced kid I was, walked into a kitchen counter and a knife fell off and got me in the face," I say, too much of a happy tone in my voice as I trailed my fingers along the scar, Bradley looked horrified.

"Oh my god... That's... How often do these, literally life threating, things happen to you...?" He asks, his eyes full of fear, I frown and tightened my hands into fists, my nails digging into my palms.

"Well, yeah... I thought you knew this," I say with an unwanted annoyance in my voice that wasn't supposed to be there, Bradley looked slightly took back, I just look away from him, taking out my phone to check the time, 8:16, I needed to start hiding my scar or we'll be late for class.

"I don't- I didn't think it was That bad, how was I supposed to know?" he says, putting emphasis on the word 'that' as I took out my backup concealer and started to cover up the flaw in my face, not looking at him, I felt the tension in the air.

"I don't know. I thought you knew me," I scowled, I'm making this worse, why are am I doing this? Why are we both annoying each other? I can't seem to stop my mouth.

"Well I thought I did, it's not my fault if I don't know this stuff, it's not like anybody told me how bad it was, I didn't even hang out with you!" Bradley practically screamed but with a more stern and cold tone, his eyes were glaring at me.

"So you are saying that it's my fault that you never hung out with me because you were terrified of me!" I rolled my eyes at him, crossing my arms across my chest, his eyes widened, then I realized something so I added.

"What? Did you think I didn't know that you were scared of me? Don't look so hurt, everyone was, hell, everyone still is! You're scared of the thought that you might get hurt around me, even now, right?!" I screamed, I didn't mean it.

"No! I wasn't- Just- Shut up!" Bradley yells at me, he covered his ears with his hands, scrunched his face up, his eyes were watering, I wanted to feel bad but I didn't, "Shut up! You don't know anything, you're being an idiot right now!"

"I'm being the idiot here?! At least I'm smart enough to call out for help to my friends who love me! You think it's better to keep it all bottled up inside but that's not okay-" I was trying to reach out to him but I knew he was having none of it.

"So you're calling me stupid now? When you're the one who got a flipping E in English, the language you speak!" Bradley was raising his arms into the air, I hated it when people called me dumb for my grade.

"At least I would be smart enough to talk to the police if my parents were beating me!" I yell louder than I've ever yelled before, I hated the voice, it just sort of slipped out.

Bradley's eyes widen, I shouldn't of said that, it was an unspoken rule to not bring it up but I couldn't help it, it had been bugging me for so long.

Bradley doesn't say anything, pausing, there is a deadly silence between us that feels like years as I continue to apply the skin tone cover up onto my face, staring in the bathroom mirror. I see Bradley tense up but I don't see his expression, I bit my lip, I feel so bad for acting so aggressive towards him, I didn't even know why I got annoyed, I felt awful, exhausted. I wanted to apologize but a lump was stuck in my throat, stopping me from making a sound, Bradley was the first to speak anyway but his voice was harsh and cold and sent a slight shiver run through my body.

"I need to go to locker," He muttered, no emotion in his voice as I hear the bathroom door creak open and slam shut because of how heavy the doors were, I jump even though I was expecting it, I was shaking, finally letting out a break I didn't know I was keeping in.

Bradley doesn't even have a locker. I knew I had messed up when I realized that but I guess that was already clear through the slight between the lines argument we had. I sigh in defeat and look at myself, I was an idiot, I made a huge mistake. I realize quickly that there was no point in feeling sorry for myself and doing nothing, especially when the bell was soon to ring anytime soon and I still looked like a freak. I quickly finished covered up the scar on my face and packed everything back into my bag and headed out of my bathroom, praying that everything would be fine the next time we talked, if not then it would be an awkward 2 hours as I had two lessons with him, one where he even sat near me, that was only in the second period though, Geography.

The halls were already crowded as people hurried to their lessons, the bell ringing in my ears like an alarm, making me want to cry out, as it rang for lessons. It took me a while to get to the area where my class was so I ran, trying to go fast without begin pushed into a wall and fracturing my upper arm bone again, I dashed upstairs to Music, slipping through the towering older kids, making it to lesson just as the kids were being to be let in. I sneaked into class and plonked myself in my seat. I sat with Zack and Melissa on either side of me as nobody else would sit next to me, to be expected. I saw Bradley behind me at the back, he's not looking at me. I felt Melissa to the left of me tap my shoulder, it felt like fire, awful, bad, and I tensed up to the touch but don't say anything so I wasn't begin annoying.

"Hey, everything okay? You look a bit down..?" She says in a soft tone, worry in her eyes as I look at her, I realize I wasn't smiling, I wasn't acting like my usual self to them, I try and force a smile to not concern them. 

"Oh yeah, I'm just tired, everything is fine," I only half-lie, I was tired because my thoughts of Bradley were running through my mind all night, causing me to not get much sleep in the process.

"Did you talk to Bradley...?" Melissa presses on the subject, ignoring my statement before, my smile flattens, I think she took that as a sign to how it went, "That bad...?"

"...It-" I began, wanting to tell her everything or anything at all because I don't know what to do and I need someone to point in the right direction, but the teacher had already begun the lesson and I couldn't talk to her.

I felt worse, on the edge, fidgety, some students, who didn't know that I fidget without me knowing, gave me glares from across the classroom when I wouldn't stop tapping my finger on the table or my foot on the ground or clicking my pen. Melissa gave me a look that showed lots of pity as she knew I was feeling uneasy. I looked down at my closed notepad on my desk, it wasn't even like I was listening, I had too much on my mind to listen about famous musicians I will never meet. I opened it up and tear off the edge of one of the clean pages and wrote down, 'talk at break?' before making sure that the teacher was looking away, they were writing on the board so I quickly slipped the piece of paper onto her desk, she noticed it and stopped taking class notes to read it. 

I saw her eyes move before looking at me and smiled, nodding, I smiled slightly back. I then took the paper and placed it on Zack's desk so he didn't feel left out, two options more are better than only one opinion. Zack did the same thing as Melissa, luckily the supply teacher didn't turn around while this was happening. I guess I should feel better for having someone to talk to now but I still felt pretty bad as if I hadn't of made the mistake in the first place, I wouldn't need anyone to talk to at all. I'm just so worried, that bruise on Bradley's jawline looked pretty bad, I didn't need to ask him to know where he got it from, I was scared, he said that he only had been hit once before but then there was the black eye too, they are dramatically becoming more frequent. 

I'm just so terrified to the fact that it's getting worse, I don't know what to do, I don't think there bus anything I can do. I know Bradley doesn't want to go to the police and I'm not saying that I disagree that they will even believe us, I just wish I could help but even mentioning it upsets him and makes it worse. I'm starting to connect the pieces and found out that it's all my fault, I'm the reason Bradley keeps getting hurt. The fight was my fault, I was the main reason why he punched one of the cool kids, I was probably the reason why he got the recent bruise too, I can just feel it... I felt terrible, I could feel the feeling of my leg bouncing up and down and sometimes hitting the desk but don't feel me actually doing it like it's automatic. 

I couldn't get my brain to function so doing any work today wouldn't be happening, I felt like breaking down but didn't have the energy to, it was going to be a depressing morning, I could already tell. Every time I tried to smile to anything, it felt like there were weights on my lips, wanting to frown, actually, I felt like there was a weight on me altogether. Things I did were a blur as I stared down at my sheet of paper ahead of me, I could seem to read it. Oh well, I wasn't that great at Music anyway, we barely even played music, just writing about it, I wasn't good about talking about how I felt about a piece of music, they all seemed to all be the same to me. Before I knew it, the rest of my classmates were standing up and putting on their backpacks, leaving the classroom.


	15. The Argument (part 2)

Milo's POV

I followed them like I was on autopilot, my legs dragging me along, my back aching and slouched as I walked out of the classroom. I see Bradley walking out of class, I look at him and we lock eyes, I try and see if he was even mad at me in the first place and I was just over-exaggerating by slightly waving at him, he looks away from me and walks faster, well there's the proof, he hates me forever, he will never forgive me, he's going to break up with me and I will die alone. Okay, Milo, calm down there buddy, it's going to be okay, you can always resolve this, this is just slight bump in the road, just take a second and breathe. I take a deep breathe and drown out all over sounds, I felt better, calmer, I can think a bit more clearly, still a bit on the edge but better than feeling like nothing. 

I go to next lesson, that felt like a blur too, I don't even remember what we were learning in that lesson, was I even there at all? At least my mind wasn't screaming at me as a response to every sound. I was next to Bradley, god the silence that was there even though we weren't even supposed to be talking was dreadful because if he didn't hate me, he would at least look at me but he was going all means necessary to avoid any eye contact with me. It made me feel pretty bad but I tried to make a positive out of it but I didn't know if I should give him space and let him come to me or talk to him about it first because he wants me to, humans were impossible to figure out, their emotions are so hard to read, all he had was a blank face as he did better work and notes than me.

When the bell for break, Bradley was in a hurry to get away from me, he kept his head down and his lips pressed down into a worried line. I frown but decide to go to the place me, Melissa and Zack get on normally at break to talk instead of following him, not sure if that was the right decision though. I knew they were would be there because that's where we normally sit, I loved things to be like a schedule, I don't react well to change. They were already there when I got there, talking among themselves, I took a seat opposite them. They look up at me and smile slightly and stop talking, my frown deepens but don't say a word about it. Melissa was the first to speak up anyway.

"So Milo... You wanted to talk?" She asks me, curiosity bled from her voice, but the worry was still there that I appreciated, she had the same soft smile she uses to try and make me feel better, I've seen it before, many times and it always made me feel calm.

"Oh yeah, right..." I mutter like I didn't know but I did, I take another deep breath and start talking, "Well, I tried to talk to Bradley but things didn't really go well. Now I think he hates me and I don't know what to do!"

"Alright Milo, calm down there, I'm sure it isn't as bad as it seems, you're not one to panic," Zack says and I bite my lip anxiously, feeling pathetic.

"So, what exactly happened?" Melissa asks, I knew she was trying to help and I tried to keep that in mind but I was a bit panicked right now.

"I-I don't know! We were just getting on each other's nerves and I said something I shouldn't of and he walked away, I don't know where he is now..." I was shaking, my eyes were burning, my head was ringing, I felt terrible.

"Milo... What did you say...?" Melissa says in a stern motherly tone, putting a hand on my shoulder as I look down at the ground underneath me, biting my bottom lip.

"I-I said something about his p-parents and how he was s-stupid to not tell the police about t-them..." I was a stuttering mess, my eyes now dangerously watering, threatening to spill, I tried to blink the tears away.

"What ar- oh god yeah, you told us about them... Why don't you guys want to go to the police anyway..? This is really serious if it gets worse..." Zack asks, he doesn't understand...

"... t-trust me, I want to tell someone too but who would believe us...? Police wouldn't, w-we're just kids.. and Bradley doesn't want anyone to get i-involved, he's scared about it..." I take a deep breath and start talking, trying to keep calm.

"That's... god, this is messed up..." Melissa mutters, not saying much else, putting her face in her hands before looking at me and adding, "Just go apologies, he has enough on his plate to be dealing with silly fights,"

"Yeah... Yeah, you're right, I'm being such a burden to him-"

"Wait- that's not what I sai-"

"I'll just go apologize and hope that he isn't that mad, this is going to be fine..." I finish my sentence, I had my doubts but I knew nothing was going to be done if I didn't do anything about it so I just smiled.

Zack and Melissa look at each other before looking back at me, my smile flattens slightly. I look away from them and let my eyes wander around the outside area, where clumps of kids hung out, trying to find Bradley in the crowd. But then I feel a tap on my shoulder and I turn around and come face to face with the person I was looking for. His eyelashes were wet with tears but his face showed that there weren't any more tears except his eyes watering. His face was blank but his eyes looked guilty, I opened my mouth before he did.

"Bradley, god- I am so sorry for what I said, it wasn't right, I'm a terrible person for doing that and I understand if-" I talked so fast that I couldn't understand myself at times, I was almost rambling but Bradley stopped me.

"Stop. Milo, I just- I can't say this right... god, stop being cute you idiot," Bradley mutters before nearly knocking me over with a hug, I manage to balance each other so we don't fall to the ground before hugging him just as tight.

"I guess I'm forgiven then..?" I ask with high hope present in my voice, Bradley chuckles over my shoulder, I could sense the smile on his face, the happiness bubbling in his heart, that feeling made the hug even more nice, warm and safe.

"Of course, you dummy," Bradley laughs out, I smile wider, I hear Melissa and Zack awe in unison but I feel disgusted eyes start to glare at us and I think Bradley felt it too because he let go of me and the hug was broken.

"So... Bradley, you feeling okay now?" Melissa asks, a gentle smile on her face, Bradley looks at her and frowns slightly, biting his bottom lip, looking like he was thinking before nodding slowly.

"That's good. Milo was freaking out over you, especially over the weekend," Zack adds, I just chuckle nervously, an embarrassed blush spreading on my cheeks, I see Bradley's frown deepen.

"What happened over the weekend...?" He asks, I look over to him, he looked kind of confused but also filled with dread, like he knew something had happened without even asking.

"Well you weren't answering anyone's calls or texts and Milo freaked out massively, he wouldn't stop talking about you," Melissa jokes, Bradley frowns, I knew he was uncomfortable, I knew something bad has happened.

"Oh yeah... sorry about that, my um phone broke?" He says but it was more of a question, a quick excuse to avert the problem, I didn't press him on it but I still look down at his jawline where the bruise was before.

"Oh really? And where did you get that bruise I saw on the bus? Let me guess, you fell?" Melissa asks, getting angry, I try to signal her to stop talking, she ignores me, Bradley anxiously looks at me before looking back at her.

"What are you talking about...?" He asks with an anxious tone, I look with pleading eyes at her, she doesn't understand, she is going to upset him, I know something is going to go wrong when things her just going well.

"Bradley, I know about your parents..." Melissa says, her face replaced from anger to sympathy, Zack has the same face, Bradley's eyes widened, he pauses before looking at me, that's when I realize that his eyes were filled with anger.

"You told them?!" He yells in my face, I feel towered over despite me being the taller one there, I don't answer, my face feeling red with shame, I hadn't thought about it before, I wished I had.

"Bradley... I-"

"Hey! Back off! You should be grateful he told someone when you didn't! Don't you see how serious this is? You need to talk about this sort of stuff Bradle-" Melissa gets between us, taking for me, Bradley glared at her but I could see the hurt in his eyes.

"Shut up! You don't even know- you don't understand! This isn't something anyone, especially you, to be messing around in, it's my business!" Bradley was trying to find the right words as Zack also joined my side, I couldn't talk, everything was going so fast.

"Actually we do understand. What they are doing isn't right, if you won't try to stop it then we're going to have to do something about it, you don't deserve to go through this..." Zack responds, taking a calmer approach.

"I won't stand there and let you..." Bradley begins but trails off with a realization of what they were threatening to do, he started to shake, he looked so scared as he begins to speak in a desperate voice, "Please don't..." 

"It's for your own good, if we tell somebody then they won't hurt you anymore..." Zack replies with, they don't understand, Bradley takes a step back from them, I needed to stop this but I was paralyzed, frozen.

"That's not... You don't know anything!" He screams at them before running away, I see him run back inside, people were staring at him and us, I didn't care though, I push past Melissa and Zack to face them.

"Why did you do that?!" I yell despite it hurting my head and throat, they look slightly taken back and I immediately feel guilty, they didn't understand, it wasn't their fault, it's nobody's fault but Bradley's parents.

"Because we wanted to do the right thing, you know this isn't right, this can't go on. I thought you of all people would understand that." Melissa says in a tone of voice she knows makes me mad.

"What is that supposed to mean? Do you really think I enjoy knowing the fact that Bradley is being hurt? Because I don't! But there is nothing we can do without things being worse!" I point out, trying to keep calm but Melissa quickly responded.

"Of course there is something you can do! There is always something. We can tell somebody, that's when the police will make sure that Bradley doesn't get hurt!" Melissa says, Zack nods along with her.

"They won't do anything. They won't believe us, we're just kids, our voice doesn't matter compared to theirs, and anyway, Bradley's parents are important and respected people, nobody would suspect them to do something bad." I explain, looking straight at them.

"And what happens then is that Bradley will get hurt more because he told someone what they do to him, everything will get worse... now do you understand why we can't tell anyone...?" I ask, feeling so down because I know what I say is true.

"I... Yes, I understand..." Melissa mutters, looking down at the ground, I felt bad for making her upset but there wasn't any other way of telling the truth to her, Zack frowns, he didn't look unsatisfied with that answer.

"That isn't fair, why must he, or anyone go through this...?" Zack spoke suddenly, he sounded so defeated, I knew it wasn't fair too, I wished it could just end and he could live with me or something but that won't happen.

"I know Zack but just sometimes the world is... you know what I mean," I say, he pauses before nodding slowly, then I add, "I'm going to check on Bradley, I hope you don't mind..."

"Of course not," Melissa quickly responds with and I smile slightly at her before turning around and started to walk back inside, knowing exactly where he was.

When I got inside the school, I headed directly to the empty bathroom we were in before in the morning, I had a faint idea that he was there. As I opened the door to the bathroom, I instantly heard a soft crying coming from one of the stalls, I knew it was Bradley. I heard the crier try to quieten his sobs as he heard me enter. I start to open all the stalls until getting the last one and opened it, it wasn't locked and sat there was a sobbing Bradley, his grey flannel in a heap on the ground as his undershirt shows his new cuts on his shoulders and wrists, his eyes squeezed shut with his knees to his face and a small blade in hand. I walk towards him and place my hand on his shaking shoulder, he flinched, I quickly drew back my hand in fear I had hurt him. 

He opened his eyes wide and stared at me, his drying tears quickly started to get wet again as he started to cry again. I panic and quickly go and hug him tight in my arms. He doesn't hug back and I take a look at his arms, he had started to harm his wrists with horizontal cuts, there were veins there. I tried to ensure that everything was fine but he still was struggling to breathe, slightly fighting to my touch. He kept on apologizing hastily, his eyes remained closed, it broke my heart seeing him like this, I didn't know what to do, that's when I remembered something that my sister said when I was freaking out one time and I began to repeat them. I grasped his shoulders and made him look at me, he looked slightly scared which worried me but I kept on going.

"Bradley, look at me please, I need you to take slow deep breaths for 20 seconds, okay?" I say and start to count and breath with him, trying to control his breathing but after the 20 seconds he still looked pretty shaken up so I decided to continue.

"Could you tell me 5 things you can see right now?" I ask, he looks at me and I think he knows the technique I was using for panic attacks and slowly started to speak.

"I can s-see you, graffiti, my shirt on the f-floor, my blade and... b-blood..." he responds, looking at his arms which were slightly bleeding, he gets more shaken up as he speaks, tears gliding his face, I frown but continue to ask him the questions.

"Now 4 things you can touch...?" I ask anxiously, hoping this would work the same way it helped me when my sister did it for me, Bradley was slightly gasping for air but places his hand on my chest, near my heart, his face wet with tears.

"Your h-heartbeat, tears, the lid, m-my... clothes? And metal..." he says as he retracts his hand away, I decide to take his hand, the one with the blade in it, I nod before asking the next question.

"3 things you can hear?" I was glad that the questions seemed to be helping as his stuttering as decreased and he also seemed to be coming back to reality, which is a good thing.

"Your voice, kids outside and the t-tap dripping..." he muttered, not looking at me, his eyes were still wide though but his breathing was getting better, his knees were however to his chest tightly.

"Good. 2 things you can smell?" I ask, getting more hopeful as I smile slightly at him, I retract my hand from him, taking away the blade from him, he didn't mind, I put it into my pocket so no more harm to be done with it.

"A stink and deodorant mix," he says with a slight jokey tone, the whole school smelt like that, he was looking better, he wasn't as tense and his wounds had dried, he was staring at them.

"1 thing you can taste?" I question him even though he doesn't need anymore as he was okay now but I didn't like to leave things unfinished, I watch him smack his lips before saying to me.

"Salt." He spoke bitterly with disgust, the salty taste from the tears he shed, I smile wider and hesitantly put a hand on his shoulder as he stands up dizzyingly, swaying slightly to side to side before standing still.

"You did great Bradley..."I mutter as I pressed our foreheads together, grabbing for his hand to hold as I smiled at him, he didn't smile back, he looked exhausted, I look down at his wrists and shoulders and frown again.

"I'm sorry... I-I didn't mean to upset you I just... sometimes it's just so hard for me... Sorry..." he begins, constantly apologizing for things that weren't his fault, it wasn't his fault that he had this addiction, this normalized pain.

"I know... Want me to help you clean those? They'll get infected if I don't..." I say, wanting to say so much more than just that but kept quiet, Bradley slowly nod.

I lead him to the sinks as he gets a tissue from the stall and starts to wipe away at his wet face. I open my backpack and take out things I needed and set them out by the sinks. Bradley eyes then but keeps quiet as I take an antiseptic wipe. I gesture for him to place his wrist into my hand and he complies. I begin to dap the wipe to the cuts and he winces and flinches, I look at him, a sympathetic look on my face to say I was sorry. The cuts weren't bad, only a few were drew blood, it was still a sickening sight. I moved from the wrist to his shoulders, there were cuts there too. I sigh before taking out some bandages and started to apply them to the cuts that were bleeding. Bradley didn't look at me like he was ashamed, he doesn't deserve this... He looks down at his arms but then spoke up, making me jump a bit.

"Do you only have brightly colored band-aids?" He says and I look down and realize that I was placing bright, patterned ones, I didn't seem to notice nor care until Bradley pointed it out.

"Oh yeah, haha, guess I only have those kinds..." I say with along with a small chuckle, scratching the back of my neck nervously, Bradley frowns but not directly at me, he was more frowning so some thought in his head.

"Okay..." he mutters with a cold stern voice, he seemed to be angry at something, I can only guess why, when I was done, he went back into the stall to get his shirt and glasses from the floor and proceeded to put them on as I look at him.

"Bradley I... Don't be mad at Mel and Zack, they didn't understand, I promise it won't happen again, I examined the situation to them," I add, hoping it would make him feel better, it didn't, he was glaring slightly at me now.

"I'm not mad at them, I'm mad at you..." he says slowly before turning away from me, he left his sleeves unrolled, it was weird seeing them like that, my eyes widened at his statement.

"Me? Why are you mad at me...? Is this about what happened before? " I ask, narrowing my eyes at him, he just glares back at me, fear was started to fill me with the pure rage in his eyes but I tried not to show it.

"No... I'm mad at you for telling them... It wasn't nor will it ever be your place to tell someone about my business..." he mutters, I'd wish he'd just shout at me and get it done with but he spoke slowly but sternly instead, his words still hurt though.

"I'm sorry... I know I shouldn't have done that, I didn't even remember telling them until now, well, I didn't tell them really, I more gestured it to them after that call on Saturda-" I ramble on before stopping as I see Bradley's frown deepen.

Bradley doesn't say anything, I wish he did, I wish he'd say something, even if it was a taunt or insult, I just wish he'd tell me what's going on through his head. He leans back on one of the stall doors and covers his face with his hands, I heard a choked sob fall out of his mouth as he leaned down the door until he was sitting down on the tiled ground. I join him, not sure what else I could do except just being there with him, feeling so helpless in this situation.

"Is it alright if I touch you...?" I ask in a soft voice, knowing how bad touch can be in some scenarios, he slowly nods his head and I wrap an arm around him and lean him towards me, his head now on my shoulder.

Bradley quickly hugs me in a tight grasp but I don't mind, I just hug him back, not wanting to let go because I know then I couldn't protect him. But I knew I shouldn't really think about the future as it just brings up problems and Bradley already has enough on his plate... I hug him tighter, burying my face in his shoulder as we both sob.


	16. The Restaurant

Bradley's POV

Milo was warm. Abnormally warm. He was just constantly warm and I was just so cold, my hands, my body, my facial expressions, my personality, my actions, cold. While Milo was just so warm, a warm hug, a warm smile, a safe and warm embrace and a warm and bubbly personality. Milo was nice, selfless, he was so positive about the fact that the world wanted his death, he didn't care what others thought of him. I was nothing like Milo. I was the human form of negativity, bitterness, destructive thoughts and he was the human form of positiveness, sweetness and reassuring thoughts. I didn't understand why he was here with me, but with that saying, I don't understand most things about this unlucky boy. I don't understand why he deals with pathetic whiny attitude. 

I don't understand why he doesn't see what I'm really are, a waste of space and time, a weak crybaby who can't stand up for themselves. I was selfish. He probably has his own problems, I'm always the one sprouted my problems onto him but never gave him a chance to say his. God, he's sobbing... I hated the sound, I've never seen it cry before, I was always the one being comforted, I didn't like it, it sounded unnatural. I feel so guilty so I just hug him tightly as tears proceed to slide fast down my face as I whimper into his shoulder. He was shaking with his shoulder tense as I felt the wetness of his tears land on my back. I didn't want to stay in this building any longer, it was giving me dread, I didn't want to be alive at all. 

I wished I could just stand up and leave it all behind, my parents, my enemies, my bullies, my depression, my addiction, make it all disappear in a blink of an eye, and leave this town, go anywhere else but here and I wanted to bring Milo with me so we could start life all over again but I knew I was way too ambitious, I know Milo wouldn't leave his home, his friends, his family who love him, and even if I left, where would I go? What would I do? Would I even survive the night? What would it even achieve? Nothing will happen if I left town but maybe something will happen if I left this world but I doubt it. I've thought about these things a lot, about what would happen if I just died. Would anyone even care? Would the world be a better place? Why haven't I done it yet?

But as Milo hugs me and we cry, I don't think about those things, I just think about how much I love him and how much I didn't want to let go. I only let go when we both had stopped crying and I felt like I was being clingy. I couldn't go on with today, it would just be too much. I weakly stand up, pins and needles throughout my body, my limbs numb, I felt terrible. I lean my body against one of the stalls and sigh before looking at Milo who had stood up too. 

"Hey... I know this might sound a lot to ask but... Do you want to ditch school with me?" I ask, smiling a hopeful smile but he furrowed his eyebrows and looked at me, looking worried.

"What about the school phoning up your parents like what happened last time...? Also, aren't you worried about missing an important lesson or something?" He asks and I frown, I didn't want to think right now.

"To be honest, I don't really care right now, if I stay in this building one more minute I'm going to break down again and I don't really want that.." I mutter as I fiddle with the ends of my sleeves, pulling them down as far as they could.

"... Alright, I'll text Melissa and maybe she could cover for us. Then neither of us would get in trouble." He adds and I smile and he smiles back, I didn't deserve him, he was willing to do anything for me but I was so ungrateful, selfish.

We walk out of the bathroom and walked like we were heading to our class to passersby but instead walked out the front door, which was surprisingly easy as most kids went outside to go to their outside classes but you could just easily walk away from school. And so we did. We just walked out of school like it was no big deal but I was still amazed at how easy it was. I was amazed too that I had actually done it. I tried not to think about it much as we walked side by side. I was too exhausted to talk right now and I was glad the Milo understood and we walked in silence. I looked at his hand, I wanted to hold it but I was too awkward to ask. Milo saw me looking and gestured his hand to say that I could and I did and we held hands all the way.

I smiled softly as we walked somewhere, I didn't know where we were going but I knew that Milo must be taking me somewhere specifically because he knew where he wanted to go, I was just following him now as he slightly dragged me. Milo started talking first, he was looking forward and had his goofy smile on his face.

"Hey, there is this pizza place that I didn't show you before on our date, I was wondering if you wanted to go there now?" He asks, so that's where we were going, I mean, I wasn't very hungry but I couldn't say no...

"Sure, I guess, I mean, what else are we going to do to, right?" I say, trying to set a jokey atmosphere, even if it meant faking a smile, I didn't want to worry him or talk about anything serious anymore.

Milo smiled gently at me and we started walking, I had an odd feeling about this, like there was a pit in my gut that says that something is wrong. I see the building near and I realize how much I didn't want to go in there. I hadn't been eating properly lately because my parents don't leave meals for me anymore because they thought I could feed myself when they were at work but it turns out that I keep on forgetting to get anything or feel too depressed or guilty to prepare anything so I guess I just have been procrastinating it for the past weeks, only eating a few small things from school when my stomach hurt so much. But I knew that if I started to eat now, with my metabolism low from starving myself, I would gain extra weight from the research I have done on this subject.

We enter the building and the person at the counter seemed to know Milo and they started to talk for a while, I could hear them laugh but I wasn't paying attention, I was staring into space while my mind wandered to wherever it pleased at that moment. I've searched it up what happens when you don't feed your body for a long amount of time, your body starts to conserve all the energy it has left to pump your blood and to keep your heart warm by slowing your metabolism down but when you start to feed it again, it doesn't go back to normal, your body doesn't trust that you'll continue to feed it and you store extra fat to store energy for the next starvation. We go and sit side by side at a table by the exit in case there was a Murphy related incident.

I could just avoid eating so much of whatever we would get be getting, properly pizza, that would be so greasy and fatty though, I could get something small, like some fries or something. I fiddled with the edges of my sleeves, I could feel the plasters on my skin as I tried to pull the sleeves down further. I could see Milo's pitiful glance from the corner of my guy. He just pities you, he'll leave when he realized all of this is a lost cause, you could never be fixed. Milo tried to spark a conversation but I just gave one worded answers it just shrugged my shoulders, I didn't want to look at him, I felt so ashamed of myself, I was a mess up... There was a crash as one of the waiters fell with a plate of glasses, the cups broke and liquid covered the ground. 

Milo stood up and took one of those slippery signs from his backpack and started to sweep away the glass with a pan and brush from his backpack too, after helping the soaking waitress first of course because that was the kind of person he was. He's too good for you, why don't you just go? It would make things a lot better anyway. Milo went to return to the table but slipped and made himself wet, he stood up and looked down at himself before going to me and saying with an apologetic smile.

"Hey, I'm going to go change my clothes and go pay for those broken glasses, I'll be right back," I just nodded and I watch him as head off the bathroom, slipping again in the puddle on the ground, I chuckle slightly before shutting myself up as Milo disappeared. 

I zoned out as I stared at blank space, my mind going empty as I rest my head in my hands, trying to calm myself down, but then my attention was snapped back to reality when I noticed a car pull up a bit far away to the right to the restaurant, I could see from the windows that were by that it was my dad's car. My eyes widened and I wondered what I should do, my heart started to beat faster as I tensed up. My dad exited the car first as he opened the door for a lady who wasn't my mom. It was his assistant, her skirt pulled up high and face full of makeup, she was prettier than my mom. I wondered why I was even surprised as I see him kiss her. Then I realized, they could see me, I could be in so much trouble, I was skipping school, they were going to beat the hell out of me. 

I stand up suddenly, causing the silverware on the table already fly everywhere when I hit my leg the table, causing a commotion in the restaurant but I didn't care as I bolted out the building and ran, they were going to the right as I ran to the left as far as I could. I ran until I was having a coughing fit, my lungs ached as they begged for air, I felt like I was going to be sick and I was so hot and probably red. My legs were sore and my feet hurt, I had no clue where I even was anymore. I pulled out of my phone as I partially gasped for air, my heart beating so fast. I lean on a wall of a building I didn't recognize as I checked on maps, I apparently didn't run far, I wasn't very sporty, to be honest, but at least I couldn't see my father anywhere.

To be honest, now that I've been thinking about it, if he saw me, he would have just pretended he didn't and ignore me as he laughs with a woman way younger then him that only likes him because he's got a good paying job. My phone vibrated in my hands as I got a notification. I looked down at it, I had a message from Milo, to be expected as I just disappeared.

Milo: hey, why are people saying you just run out of the building? also where are you? :)

Bradley: Hey. Sorry, I did run out of the building, I'll tell you later, I'll just come back and see if they're still there.

M: what? who??

I put my phone away, not responding to his question as I started to head back, I should really think before I do, I was a panicking mess for no reason. When I got back, the car was gone, I knew he wouldn't stay long, he never does. I walk back into the restaurant to see a nervous Milo talking to somebody who worked there, he clearly knew her but I didn't really care right now. I walk over to him and he notices me and turns around, he instantly smiled and hugged me, taking me by surprise. I quickly push him away slightly, his touch felt like it burned my skin, I didn't want to be touched for some reason. He repelled and apologized quietly, I look at him and sigh. I was such a selfish person, burden, annoying, attention-seeker, I don't deserve him.

What was I even doing? Why do I waste his time? What am I trying to achieve here? What am I still doing alive? I feel my eyes start to water as I bite down hard on my bottom lip. I wrapped my arms around my body and dug my nails into my shoulders, my vision was getting fuzzy as the world started to spin. My hands were sweating and my heart was beating fast, my legs felt like they were about to collapse. Everything felt so loud, even chatter and the slightest of sounds, the room was so bright, tears now rolling down my cheeks and fast. Milo tried to grab my shoulders but I let out a pathetic, quiet scream as I moved away from him. I fell over something and landed on the ground. Loud, bright. I covered my ears with my hands and squeezed my eyes shut. 

I put my legs on my chest so I was in ball position, but none of it helped as much as I would want it to. I felt somebody trying to pick me up but I fought against them, kicking and screaming, it hurt! It hurt! The touch made me feel like I was going to be sick, my body felt like it was about to shut down any moment. I didn't stop fighting until I felt the wind on my face, the noise was quieter and I was being placed down somewhere. I stopped screaming and looked around, I was outside the restaurant. I looked up and saw Milo, out of breath and a red mark on his face, did I do that...? I let out a sob once again and go back into a ball except put my face to my knees so I could block out all the light. My head hurt so much, my throat hurt too from screaming and it seemed like the smallest of sounds made me want to scream. 

I covered my ears once again and just cried. I cried until my eyes burned, my face was flushed red, I was gasping for air and my breathing was so shaky. I cried for such a long time and I didn't notice Milo sitting down next to me, not too close though. When I had calmed down enough, I looked up at him, he was holding a water bottle and a pill up to me with a gentle smile before saying really quietly.

"It's a painkiller, for the headache..." he handed them to me and I took them, it took me a while before I actually did anything but I eventually took the painkiller with a chug of water.

We sat there for a while, own backs pressed against the building's walls. I sigh, still pretty messed up after crying, my breath still not normal. We just looked forward, looking at the road and eventually, the bird's chirping and the wind on my skin didn't make me want to throw up and make my head hurt. I looked over at Milo, he was holding his cheek that was still a bit red but was slowly getting back to its normal color, his facial expression so hard to read. I decided to speak up as this was all my fault and I needed to apologise.

"Did I hit you...?" I ask, my tone of voice filled with guilt and nervousness as I gesture to his cheek, he looks over at me and gently smiled before frowning again, he seemed like he was a million miles away, there must be a lot of thoughts in that head of his.

"Yeah but it's fine, it didn't hurt, don't worry about it..." he says in a quiet voice still but not quite whispering as he looks down to the ground, messing around with the pebbles on the ground where the payment was.

"Sorry..." I mumble, looking away from him, I felt so guilty, he hates me, I messed up and he's going to leave me, I still had no clue what had happened, it's like I had blacked out, so I ask, more quietly then I would have hoped, to him, "What happened?

"Well you started to panic and breathe fast, and you wouldn't let me touch you and I saw that you were covering you're ears and closing you're eyes so I knew this environment was too much for you," he began, explaining it to me with a gentle voice.

"So I picked you up and got you out of there, I knew it would be better to get you somewhere quieter to calm down, you really didn't like that I was holding you and you hit me but it's okay, I've hit somebody when I was in the same situation ," he adds, finishing talking.

"Oh... I guess I was just a bit confused as I only got those when I was smaller, I was a demon child, I was unbearable as a kid and I still am, like my parents like to remind me a lot," I chuckle sadly but Milo just frowned but didn't mention it.

"Huh. Well, I think that um... I don't really know how to mention this but I only really have this panic attacks when things are too loud or bright, my senses are a bit heightened because I'm autistic and-..." he stops himself and me, confused, stare at him.

"Milo? What are you trying to say...?" I ask anxiously, not understanding, he pauses, biting his bottom lip nervously and had a face like he was thinking before shaking his head and smiling over at me.

"Never mind, I'm just being stupid." He mumbled and I wanted to ask him as gain but before I could get the chance to, he opened his mouth before kine and added, "Anyway, do you want to talk about the reason why you ran out of the restaurant? I was really worried,"

"Oh... I just kind of panicked because I saw my dad, he couldn't see me here, he'd hit me if he saw me here, out of school," I mutter, looking down at the floor and Milo frowned because he knew I wasn't exaggerating. 

"... Can I hold your hand?" He asked, taking me by surprise and I pause before nodding and he grabs my hand and we interlock fingers, he stares down at our hands as he gets closer to me, only after knowing I was okay with it, then he began to speak.

"I care about you, even before we started dating, I remember seeing you cry so many times in the middle of class at school and you having panic attacks a lot and you having to be taking out of class because you were too depressed to do anything," Milo begins, looking so far away. 

"I had seen you always get change in the bathroom and I now know it's because you didn't want anyone to see your scars. I remember when teachers would yell, I could see the flash of fear in your eyes and god I was really worried about you, even though you didn't like me much back then." He talks, slowly, cautiously. 

"I saw all the signs but I chose to say nothing because I thought it wasn't my place to intervene, I always thought you had someone to talk to this stuff to, that was my biggest mistake as I now know that you didn't." His voice cracks like he's about to cry but he wasn't crying yet. 

"I want to be that person, Bradley. I want you to be able to talk to me, I want to make you feel okay for once because you don't deserve any of this, you deserve to be happy like everybody else, you deserve to be loved and cared for." Milo gave my hand a squeeze.

There was silence that hung in the air, tension thick, I hated it. I had no idea how to respond to those words as I've never heard them, nobody has ever said anything close to that to me before so I didn't know how to act. A tear rolls down my cheek and I use my free hand to wipe it away before covering my mouth like I was surprised, like I couldn't believe what I was hearing. A feeling infected my heart, I felt warm when all I've felt is cold, like a bubbly sensation but at the same time it hurt, like a slightly sharp pin, and there was also this feeling of doubt that corrupted his words but parts of his words of positivity shown through the virus and I started to smile. Then I started to laugh, started quietly then getting louder, then I started to cry, then I had no idea what I was doing anymore.


	17. Chapter 16

Bradley's POV

Milo wrapped his arms around me, holding me in an embrace and I hugged him back as tight as I could, afraid of him leaving and this would be my last time to feel this warmth, I loved it but sometimes it hurt but I didn't care at all, I just needed him, I didn't want to do this alone anymore. I had been alone all my life and I thought I would be used to it by now but then he appeared in my life and now I can't imagine being without him. God, I'm so clingy. What if I was being annoying? I am obnoxious, a crybaby, selfish, rude, pathetic and worthless, I don't deserve him. My tears slipped through my already red, stinging eyes and Milo started to whisper praises to me, compliments and encouragement, trying to overthrow the negative thoughts that bubbled in my head every day.

Everything hurt but it was also nice, like the pain I feel to calm myself down but I wasn't doing anything this time, I didn't know what I was feeling anymore. I stop crying after a while but I didn't want to get out of Milo's grasp so I just hug him closer, he doesn't complain and does the same. We had to let go of each other someday though and I decided to talk to him, about what exactly I wasn't sure but I just opened my mouth and words started to flow out like a waterfall but it was a mess of words, my voice kept on cracking but Milo probably didn't care and just listened until I was completely finished.

"Milo... I care about you, I-I- um, I don't know really what to say to be honest but what I guess I want to say is that I'm lucky. I'm lucky to have you in my life because I've never had anyone care about me before and I guess I don't really want to do this alone anymore," I start, anxiously.

"I don't want to keep on pushing you away and this is something I never thought I would say and mean it but I really want to let you help me for once, I've learned to trust nobody but right now I trust you enough to let you in my life..." I explain, he slowly starts to smile.

"Oh Bradley..." Milo mutters and leans his forehead against mine and we just had this moment of peace as he places his hand on mine, I look down at it before holding his hand, interlocking hands, smiling, for once in my life, I didn't feel alone, even though we were opposites.

We had nothing much in common, nothing the same, to our personalities to our home life, to the things we like and skills we have, we're far from the same, and yet, here we are, holding each other's hand and just enjoying the company each other brings, I never thought this could happen. We sat there for a while, outside a restaurant that had people coming in and out of it rarely and most of them would steal a glance at us, wondering what we were doing but never took action to their curiosity, until we decided that we should do something else. We stood and I went to roll my sleeves back up as they were still down but then I remembered and just frowned, how could I forget? Milo sees me and frowns before placing a hand on my wrist gently and spoke.

"It's okay... They'll heal and when they do, I'll be there to help you get through this bad addiction, I know I'm not a professional but I'll try my best, I want to help," Milo says and I just smile slightly before frowning again, not saying anything, I was so ungrateful.

"Well... What do you want to do now? There is nothing much we can do here, I doubt you'd want to walk anywhere that was crowded or loud and to be honest neither do I, any suggestions?" He asked and I thought for a while, then my mind started to wander.

I started to think about everything that has happened, how I've cried so much today, what we were even doing here. Then I remember, my bruises, the fight, my parents, no wonder I've cried so much, so much has happened today. I look over at Milo, who was looking at me with curious eyes and a small, kind smile, wondering what was going on inside my head. Should I tell him what happened over the weekend? Would it even matter? What would even happen if I told him? Would he care at all? I had to tell him though, we just talked about wanting to help each other and me letting Milo help me so that meant telling him my problems... I sigh and my body tenses up as words started to pour out of my mouth before I even realized it was me, like it wasn't even me speaking at all.

"Milo... There is something I need to tell you..." I mumble and stop suddenly, looking down at the ground, Milo's smile fell too because he knew I was being very serious, but when I tried to continue, I couldn't, something was stuck in my throat.

"M-My... um... I-I-I..." I start to shake and cover my mouth with my hand like I could feel my parents above me even when there was nothing there and I knew it but I still felt scared, intimidated, the fear silencing me, it was too much, but then Milo put his hand on my shoulder.

"Hey... It's okay, you don't have to talk now if you can't then you can't, I can wait until you're ready," Milo reassured me, trying to get me to not feel scared but I could still feel the presence looming.

"N-No..." I mutter before taking a deep breath, my hand slowly coming off from my mouth to my side but they were still quite pale and shaky, Milo waits "I need to say this now or I'll never say it at all..."

"On Saturday, when I came back to my hom- my h-house, my par... parents found me and they hu-hurt me again, took all my connections from the outside world and locked me in my room, I couldn't talk to y-you or anybody, I was so alone..." I begin, not finished yet.

"It's the lowest I've ever felt, I wanted to d-die... my parents yelled at me a lot whenever they let me leave my room for everything I did, I cried so hard that weekend and I'm still crying so hard now, it really hurts," I hug my torso to stop me from shaking.

"I'm breathing too harshly and my heart is always beating so fast and my body aches because even now, I feel my parents looming over me with judgmental eyes, stopping me from doing simple things like talk to others, I never feel free from them as I know now that this will never change..." I mumble.

"I'm just so tired, Milo. I wish things were different but they're not. At least I'm not blind anymore to my parents actions, I know now that this nightmare I live in isn't okay anymore, it's not just them letting off some steam or getting stressed, it's no longer just an accident or a mistake, I just don't know what to do," I admit.

"I want to tell you so many things, everything that has gone on in my life, every thought in my head, but I'm scared, I'm scared because I've been taught all my life to be quiet, quiet about my opinions, quiet about my needs, I need to be silent.." I mutter.

"... Woah, that felt great, to actually talking to somebody about how I feel. God, that sounds so pathetic, I'm probably going to regret saying any of that later on..." I let out a shaky breath, I look up and I see Milo with his hand covering his mouth, tears streaming down from his eyes.

"Oh no! Milo, I'm-I'm s-sorry, I-I did-didn't mean to-" I say hastily so my words get all messed up but then Milo hugs me, practically leaping onto me, nearly taking me off my feet, I was shocked for a minute before smiling and hugged him back.

"I'm so proud of you, despite everybody telling you to be quiet, you spoke out and told me, that must of been so hard for you... I'm really happy you told me that..." he added the last bit as he nuzzled his head into my neck, my smile drops and I just hug him tighter.

I was the first to let go of the hug, his warmth quickly becoming a ghost onto my cold, bruised skin. He looked at me with this dopey smile on his lips as he wiped away at his wet, blood-shot eyes. I only just managed to lift the edges of my lips to make a pathetic excuse for a smile. Milo let out a shaky breath before looking around, I wondered what was going on inside that mind of his. He pulled out a phone with a broken screen and switched it on to see the time, 1:21. School ended at 3 so we didn't really have much time left. I knew Milo had the same thought and said before I could.

"Do you want to just head back to the school? By the time we get there it'll be nearly the end of the day," Milo suggested and I just nod because I couldn't be bothered to disagree, it was easier this way, and we started to walk back, this weird feeling was lingering in the air between us.

Truth was, I didn't want to go to school, I was scared for my life in there, for Milo's life as well, I can't let a single thing slip out of my mouth without it backfiring so badly, not to mention how bad it feels to work, worrying if it's good enough to please my parents, worried this tired feeling I've been having will get worse and I will not be able to get my work done. I steal a glance at Milo, he was frowning, I hated it, god, I shouldn't have told him, you just bum him out, you upset everybody with your stupid problems, they've got their own proble- Ugh! Shut up mind! Why can't you just need positive like everybody else? My body was tense while we walked, I tried to talk to him but every time I opened my mouth, no words came out, so I just fiddled with the edge of my sleeve.

When we got to school, Milo decided to play along with the lie Melissa had set up for us to be able to skip school without getting into trouble, which was Murphy's Law drove us away somewhere. Milo made us look roughed up before going back to school, when the receptionist saw us, she just nodded and we walked to class, the last lesson had just started but the corridors were empty. I felt like this was a daze, everything didn't feel Real, I looked down at my hands, they were shaking and I didn't know why. Milo noticed and stopped just to hold them.

"Hey, it's okay, just breathe, count to twenty," Milo suggested and so I did and as we started to walk again, I kept on counting to twenty over and over again to the rhythm of my footsteps and only stopped when we reached the door of the classroom.

I took a deep breath before exhaling with defeat, Milo gave me a pity look before opening the door and walking inside. The teacher looked at us for a second before just nodding and told us to sit down. Milo didn't sit next to me this lesson, he was on the other side of the room so I just stared down at my desk. Everything was different, when the teacher talked, it just seemed like white noise, I couldn't hear it, and when the work got handed in front of me, I didn't understand any of it, I couldn't get the letter to form words, don't get me started on getting the words into fully formed sentences. I just stared down at it with a blank expression, not moving, but everything else was, people, the pattern on objects, pencil on paper.

Everything was moving too fast for me, leaving me behind, why couldn't time just stop for a second? It never did and I just stared down at the paper until the bell rang. My movements were slow, while everybody was rushing out the door, I was sluggishly put on my backpack. I noticed everybody had put their work on the front of the teacher's desk. I hadn't put my name on my empty piece of paper so maybe I could say I just lost it. The teacher was already gone so I scrunched the paper up and placed it in the bin on my way out. I sigh and exit the building, I spot crowds of kids around as they get on their buses, they all seem so colorful and I felt so dull, what was this feeling? I felt so tired but I just kept on walking and got onto the bus and went to go sit on the back.

I saw Milo already sat there and I hesitated, I didn't want to bother him but he was already calling me over. I sat next to him and I instantly noticed the tension in Milo, he wasn't as chippy as he used to be, he barely could give me one of his grins, god, what I'd do to just see that smile again. It took everything I had to not think it was my fault when it so clearly was.. I plonk myself next to him, wanting to just lay my head on his shoulder or hold his hand but people were already on board the bus. Melissa and Zack sat down on the other side of Milo, they all started to talk but I could feel like they knew something was different in Milo like everything he did was fake, and by the way they would glance at me, my mind knew that they blame me for it... The bus started to move with a sound as I just stared out of the window. 

I could feel their eyes burning into my skull but I was too scared to look back at them. I stare out of the window, my neck aching from having my head turned for so long until I felt somebody tap me on the shoulder. I looked over, it was Milo obviously, I exempt a small smile and he does too but then Melissa clears her throat, a signal for Milo, and he looks at her for a second before looking back at me and saying.

"Hey um, Bradley...? So, I was wondering if you'd like to come back to my house tonight, you know because your home is..." he trails off but I knew what he meant anyway, I think for a second about the pros and cons before replying to him.

"Sure, my parents aren't in, again, it would be better than begin alone, I'd rather be with you then be in that house anyway..." I mumble out the last bit, my cheeks feeling a bit warm as Melissa and Zack awe at me.

"Cool! I'm really happy to hear that," Milo says, his cheeks dusted pink, a small smile on his lips, I smile back as I knew that it was real, even if it was small, I was a bit hesitant to go though but I kept my opinions to myself for the better of good.

My opinions aren't really important anyway, I just didn't want to burden him, he's only saying this because he feels bad for me but if I told him that then he'll just feel even worse and deny it... I frown and look away from him, not wanting him to see that I was sad. I dazed out for most of the ride, before I knew it, Milo was tapping me on the shoulder to get off. We walked side by side to his house, it was unusually quiet today, Murphy's Law hasn't been in full force for a while, I wonder what it could mean. As we got closer, I couldn't help but feel uneasy, I wouldn't feel welcomed there as I don't belong in a happy household, I don't deserve to be happy. Milo got out his keys but a strange gush of strong wind blew them out of his hands and into the nearby gutter, I didn't even get time to react to what had happened when Milo pulled out a spare key and, quickly this time, opened the door.

"Hey guys, I'm home! Bradley is here too!" He yelled into the house to anybody that was listening as we stepped into the house, I looked around, nobody was in the living room so they must be somewhere else in the house.

"Let's just get to my room," Milo mumbled as we headed up the stairs but before we got to his room, Sara appeared from the kitchen, a box of dry cereal in one hand and the other hand scooping it into her mouth.

"Hey, mom and dad aren't in, they are at the police station to discuss about those boys finally," She confessed and Milo paused for a full seconds before just nodding and going into his room, I hesitantly followed him.

We entered his room, closing the door but I was just really concerned about Milo, he was acting really strange, "Hey Milo... Are you um, feeling ok- mffph!"

I was interrupted by a pair of lips on mine, Milo practically crashing into me, not even letting me finish my sentence. Normally I would have felt warm and sparks flying in my stomach but this kiss was different, it was harsh, forced, cold. I knew Milo wanted me to kiss back though so I just sucked it up and tried to kiss back. This felt really wrong, I wanted it to stop and I could tell that Milo didn't really want this by the way he forced it so much but we just didn't stop like we were glued to each other. Milo pressed me against the door, his hand on my waist, before he forced his tongue into my mouth, making me jump and roughly push him back. He stumbles backward before tripping on something on the ground and falling down, making a loud bang sound. I stayed at the door, a hand covering my mouth, I felt bad, what the hell did we just do?

Milo stood up hastily but then did nothing and we just stood there, like we were frozen in place. Then I heard a whimper and I looked up to see Milo with tears streaming down his face, his legs gave away and he crashed to the ground again, repeating the same words of 'I'm sorry' and 'didn't mean to'. I slowly approach him, my hands shaking as I sat with him. I didn't know what to do, Milo was always there to comfort him, there were the rare occasions where I've had to comfort him, it's so strange to see him cry. I rest my hand on his shoulder and tried to console him, god I was a terrible boyfriend... Milo leaned into me and cried into my shoulder, gripping onto my shirt tightly, I rub his back in a soothing motion until he was left to just sniffles and shaky breaths. Then he began to talk.

"I'm s-s-sorry, I-I did-didn't mean to..." he says again, I just frown and shush him gently but he didn't stop, "No B-Bradley god I... We're so messed up, we-we... This whole situation is just messed up!"

"Milo, what are you talking about?" I ask gently, my frown deepens, my eyes filled with fear as I waited for a response from a fragile Milo, he looked like cracked glass, on the bridge of breaking into a million tiny pieces, I wonder if that is how he sees me?

"God...! The whole things with your parents, the way you act, your unhealthy coping methods and most importantly... us, Bradley, we're so messed up!" Milo cried, listing all the things I knew where problems but couldn't dare face. 

"I love you, a really do but have you seen what we're doing to each other! I've made you get in trouble with your parents and you are-" he stops himself, quickly putting his hand to his face like he was afraid of talking, my eyes widen.

"Me? You say-said that I... Milo..? W-What am I doing to you.?" I stutter out, fear filled me, I was destroying him, oh god I was hurting him.

"Y-you're not... I didn't mean to... I-I'm sorry I... I shouldn't of..." Milo stuttered out, he looked terrified, I was paralyzed, I was hurting him, I was making him like this, it's all my fault.

"Is this... Is it my fault? Is it my fault that you're feeling this way?" I ask cautiously as I wait for the answer that I dreaded, time seemed to move so low as Milo tried to hastily explain.

"N-No! It's not like that, please don't feel down again, I didn't mean it!" Milo pleaded but it just made me more confused, he seemed almost afraid to upset me, which upset me more.

"Milo, it's okay, I want you to be able to talk to me, even if it upsets me, I don't want you to break bottling it up," I say, trying to get to him, Milo looked at me for a while, like he was thinking.

"..." He paused, that silence seemed to last forever before he finally opens his mouth and spoke...


End file.
